


One Eye Full of Wisdom

by MrBright01



Category: Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, For Want of a Nail, Gen, Trollrochimaru
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-03-09 22:59:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13491588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrBright01/pseuds/MrBright01
Summary: Kakashi survived his losses in spirit as well as in body, and having learned both wisdom and intellect from his experiences, he now seeks to pass those traits on to his students. Story emphasis is on tactical fighting, mind games, adventure, and the occasional bout of humor. GenFic, no story stealing OC's or creepy romance between children. Currently being transferred to Ao3, total of 47 chapters and still live.





	1. Meet Team 7

Kakashi let the eraser bounce off his head.

It was such a simple trap. He could see it as soon as he turned into the hallway outside the classroom. A chalk eraser crammed halfway out of the front door, the door wedged open to hold it in place. Only a literal idiot could fall for such a thing.

If anyone knew the value of being underestimated, it was Kakashi the Copy Ninja. With a light puff of chalk, the eraser rebounded from his hair and clunked to the floor, to the explosive laughter of one of his potential genin, Uzumaki Naruto. The little blond boy was clutching at his sides and pointing as he laughed, surprisingly cheerful for what Kakashi had read in the boy's files.

Under his mask, Kakashi smiled as his second potential genin, Haruno Sakura, apologized profusely, almost able to hide her own amusement at the little prank. The girl with the oddly pink hair was known by her teachers as studious and intelligent, but her somewhat severe dislike for Naruto was also well documented.

His smile dropped when he noticed his third potential genin, Uchiha Sasuke, glaring at his teammates in judgment from his chair. His file had been full of praise for his skills, and had a glaring omission for the boy's relationships with his peers. Not one of his former teachers ever claimed to see the boy smile, after his clan was destroyed.

That one will be the biggest problem, I think. To be so focused and humorless is a poor sign at that age, I can attest to that personally. With any luck, I can be for him what Minato was for me. Kakashi crouched and picked up the eraser, looked at it thoughtfully, and declared to his new team, "Hmm... my first impression of this team is... amusing."

Naruto smirked. Sakura tried not to smirk. And Sasuke scowled that much harder.

_Right, let's see what our cute little students are like_. Out loud, he said, "Meet me on the roof in ten minutes," then vanished in a puff of smoke. He did not go far, only a few feet so he could stand on the wall outside the window and listen to what they did. Naruto shouted in surprise, then gleefully proclaimed he would learn how to do that before charging out the door. Sakura gave a single deep inhale, then asked Sasuke to escort her to the roof in a voice that all but proclaimed to the world her infatuation. Sasuke said nothing beyond a single irritated grunt, and the sound of his footsteps receding clearly indicated he was hurrying to stay away from her.

Kakashi sighed and looked out into Konohagakure, trying to spot the shop he had visited after inspecting Naruto's barren home only hours ago and reviewing the files on all three of his students. He caught sight of it, and after one last check to ensure his flight path was clear, leaped into the air to pick up his order.

He returned minutes later with a shopping bag in hand, but decided on a whim to hide himself in the decorative trees on the roof and observe his students instead of announcing himself. He watched as the three children silently fumed at each other, Sakura against Naruto, Naruto against Sasuke, and Sasuke against everyone, up to and including the step he was sitting on. Kakashi sighed to himself and dropped down in front of them, getting all three of them to jump slightly in surprise.

"Let us introduce ourselves over lunch," he said, pulling out several special bento boxes he had ordered from the shop. He set one down on the ground next to him, a plain gray box with a thick black strap. "I am Hatake Kakashi. I like things that I cannot talk about until you're eighteen. I dislike people who abandon their friends and teammates. I cannot talk about my hobbies until you're at least sixteen. I have no future goal at this time that I can tell you at your age." At his words, Sakura and Naruto glared at him, practically mouthing the word "pervert" together. Sasuke didn't react, and if Kakashi had not seen him shift slightly, he would have assumed he was being completely ignored.

Kakashi offered a bento to Sakura first, a large pink thing decked out in sakura petals and little hearts decorating it, but when she tried to take it, he held it firmly in place. She seemed to get the hint and bowed to him politely. "I'm Haruno Sakura. I like... the person I like..." At this she blushed and turned to look at Sasuke, who ignored her. "My hobby is... that is, my dream is..." She continued to blush and steal glances at the brooding Uchiha, who had yet to react, even when she gave out a high pitched squeal.

_Fangirl kunoichi_ , thought Kakashi, who proffered the bento again. It was hardly a shocking guess. Kakashi, along with many other jonin, had long noticed a tendency for young would-be kunoichi to gravitate towards a romantic view of their job, and it always amused him to hear Kurenai, an otherwise very level-headed and friendly woman who also happened to be a talented illusion mistress, rant about the fangirls she had to deal with during her time in the academy. Kakashi had nothing but respect for female shinobi... if they could get past the romantic garbage they tended to pick up before graduation.

Sakura took the bento, gave another small bow, and opened it. She then frowned slightly and held it away from her with a look of distaste. It was filled with protein and carbohydrates, a cheeseburger and a selection of fried foods, the only hints of green being a pickle that looked suspiciously brown and crunchy and a single wilted lettuce leaf slathered in ketchup in a sad attempt to hide it under the meaty burger.

"You are terribly thin, Sakura," said Kakashi after she rejected her food choice. "You have no apparent muscle mass, and frankly, I am fairly sure you're following the civilian trend of dieting yourself to that point. Starting tomorrow, you will be a proper kunoichi, and that means training until your muscles give out, then doing it again the next day, and the next, and so on. Your body will need all the fuel it can get, and I assure you, your figure will not suffer for it. So eat. The shinobi world is a cruel and dangerous place for those who value appearance over capability."

Sakura glanced at Sasuke, who did not react, and ignored Naruto, who appeared to be drooling slightly and not watching her at all. She bowed again, then sat and quietly began to eat. Kakashi saw the tiny little smile she had once she started eating. He had been careful to get only the best for his student, as one good meal often encouraged another one later. _One possible disaster down_ , he thought to himself.

He next held out a bento to Naruto, a bright and ugly orange thing wrapped haphazardly with blue string. The boy grabbed it and tried to tug it out of his hands repeatedly, ultimately hanging off of his arm like a blond monkey. Kakashi cleared his throat and stared meaningfully at the kid until he pouted and gave a short bow. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen, especially the ramen at Ichiraku, and even more so when Iruka-sensei pays for it! I hate waiting for cup ramen to cook. My hobby is to eat and compare cup ramen! And my dream is to become Hokage! I'll make the villagers acknowledge me!"

Kakashi resisted the urge to roll his eye as he handed the bento to Naruto. He had very little information on the holder of the nine-tailed fox, mostly because every report and opinion he had found focused on three things: his tendency to prank, his "impossible" dream to become Hokage, and his terrible grades. Kakashi suspected he would be doing a lot of remedial training with the boy in the future, but he also saw some potential. The sheer number of individual and highly creative pranks the boy had pulled off was impressive, and the fact that he got away with them almost every time until Iruka learned how to yell a confession out of him was encouraging. The fact that the Hokage had high hopes for the boy was also very telling, as he was known to use his crystal ball to spy on the boy regularly.

"I saw how much you liked ramen," Kakashi said, as the boy tore into his bento excitedly... then gave out a yelp when he saw the contents of the box. It was filled to the brim with leafy greens of many sorts, and in the midst of it was a small pile of different sliced meats. "The Hokage saw how much you like ramen too. And we both saw how much of it you eat. He has charged me with shopping for your food, which I will do each Sunday. The remainder of your funds will be given to you then. This will continue until I believe you are able and willing to purchase more balanced food."

Naruto was barely listening, his face drooping. "No... no more ramen..." he muttered sadly, sinking to the ground with a mournful look on his face.

Kakashi sighed, loudly and melodramatically, then said, "No, only some ramen. Not all ramen. And ramen will have to come out of your own pocket after other food. This is a selection of foods. Try them and let me know what you like." Naruto moped about that, but Kakashi had the Hokage's blessing on this, so he was unconcerned. He reached into the bag and took out the last bento, a second dull gray box, this one with a red ribbon on it. He arched his one visible eyebrow and looked at Sasuke expectantly.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke," he said from where he sat. "I hate many things, and like very few things. And I have a goal more important than a mere dream, the revival of my clan... and to kill a certain man."

_Oh, goody_ , thought Kakashi. He was no stranger to the more brutal aspects of shinobi life. He'd killed plenty of people, sometimes in quite messy and unpleasant ways. Like many shinobi, Kakashi coped with the memories and necessities by finding an outlet for his misery. He loved playing mind games with friends, just like Asuma loved cigarettes and Guy loved "the power of youth." And then, you got people like Sasuke, people who had nothing left of their old life but dreams tainted by the bitterness of their losses, and no future but to kill. Kakashi saw more than a few pass through the ANBU ranks while he was a captain there. Most of them left in body bags when they finally broke under the stress and made a fatal mistake on a mission, and Kakashi damn well wouldn't permit the last Uchiha to follow that explosively disastrous route if he could help it.

That the man he wanted to kill was his own brother probably made it even worse.

Kakashi shook the gray bento cheerfully at his mopey student. With an annoyed grunt, Sasuke stood, snatched the box from Kakashi's hand and opened it. He then pulled out a small, foil-wrapped square mass, a look of disgust appearing on his face. "Field rations," he said, a little tint of anger in his voice.

"Field rations," replied Kakashi, opening his own bento and taking an identical package from it. The little foiled blocks of misery, technically called Field Rations, but often called Final Resorts among the shinobi community, were perfectly balanced to give a shinobi everything they needed for a hard day of battle and murder. They also tasted about as delightful as their foil wrapping, so much so that some ANBU he knew would often eat them while wrapped, foil and all, when they were really having a rough day on the job. Kakashi had approached the Akimichi clan, hoping to improve the taste, only to be informed that the field rations he knew and loved to hate were the _improved_ ones from the last captain who had brought it up, and that the blocks were so dense with nutrients that no amount of flavor would ever make them more than tolerable.

Kakashi unwrapped half of his ration bar, a wistful smile crossing over his face as that thick, appetizing smell of super-processed chemically-balanced cardboard hit him. "I know a little about you, Sasuke, from talking to your academy teachers. You never speak to anyone. Never socialize. Never have fun. Never relax. If you want to be a machine of a man, then you may as well eat naught but field rations. They taste terrible, but they are all you need to survive. Why eat things that taste better, if you don't enjoy them?" He held out his half-unwrapped bar in a mock toast.

Sasuke grunted in annoyance and sat down, tossing the ration packet aside. He glowered straight ahead, which happened to be at Kakashi, even as his stomach growled.

He was still glaring when Sakura stepped into his field of vision. Half of her burger was on the lid of her bento, and she was holding it out to him with a tentative smile. He heard an annoyed grunt to his right, so similar to his own, and glanced at Naruto, who looked away and held out the remainder of his own meal. "I don't like you, Sasuke... but nobody likes field rations, and nobody deserves them. Not even you."

"I don't need your pity," grumbled Sasuke.

"It's not pity," replied Sakura quietly, laying the lid down in front of him.

"It's friendship, teme," said Naruto, who looked at Sasuke and gave a small smile. "We'll be a team now. We should act like it, when I'm not kicking your butt in a spar or something."

Sasuke stood and started to walk away from his teammates, and Kakashi gave a little sigh. He thought for a brief moment, less than a second, and decided that if it came to it, he'd rather an impotently angry Uchiha than one who thought he could get away with blowing off his teammates. Kakashi waves his hand cheerfully, and loudly called out, "So you want to go back to the Academy, Uchiha?"

Sasuke stopped walking, and Kakashi could see the boy's fists tightening.

"Konohagakure does not need weak shinobi who get themselves and their teammates killed, Sasuke-kun, and that is exactly as you would become if you walk away now. You will go back to the Academy with a note in your files, 'Does not work well with others.' You will certainly get no training from me. And you will keep returning, with the same message to each teacher, from every jonin I know who is competent enough to train you well, because we'll all see the same thing. Until you finally get someone who has no idea what you have suffered and decides to keep you in their team even if your team suffers for it, out of _pity_."

Kakashi's cheerful voice did not waver in spite of the boy's sudden tenseness. "And then, you will know more suffering, more regret, more _pity_ , because you will become a magnet for death. Your own callous, uncaring nature will make you and those around you suffer. Allies will die because they believe they cannot ask you for help, and the survivors will _pity_ you for your loss. Potential friendships will die, because after being rebuffed too many times, people tend to give up and find other friends, and those lost friends and allies will look on you with _pity_ when you walk by. Right now, you go home to silence, but you are not alone yet, because you have been surrounded by others and forced to interact with them in the Academy setting. You will not know loss until you realize you have not spoken for a week and nobody cares because they think of you as an object of their environment instead of a human."

Kakashi started to walk slowly towards Sasuke, watching the boy's fists turn white while he spoke. "And then, you'll die. Maybe you'll refuse help as you take on a foe stronger than you. Maybe you'll snap and chase after your brother before you are ready, and get slaughtered by someone powerful enough to slay your entire clan. Maybe you'll live a long and dull life of failure before having a heart attack at home and dropping dead, unnoticed and unlamented until someone happens to sense the smell of your rotting body and contacts the authorities out of _pity_ for the poor old man who had no one to care for him."

Kakashi came to a stop behind Sasuke. "In none of these cases do you get your revenge. In all of these cases, you fail to revive your clan. Those schoolgirls who crush on you now in that annoying way eventually grow into women who know better than to waste their time. No children, no future, and the Uchiha clan dies with you. On the path that you are currently on..." Kakashi reached out and gently grabbed Sasuke's shoulder, turning the around to face him, "...you will fail at everything you claim you want."

Sasuke's face was set in a deep scowl, his eyes clenched shut. "Look at me," Kakashi commanded, and he was not surprised to see that the boy's eyes were shining when the boy did as he was told. "You may be surprised to know that I understand what it is to lose all that you value," he said, his voice no longer sounding cheerful. "I found my father, the only family I had, dead in his home, having killed himself for his idea of honor. I watched my teammate die in front of me, a testament to my failure. I watched my sensei die because I was not strong enough to save him. I worked in ANBU for years, and many of my friends there died because as good as I am, I am not perfect, and I cannot be everywhere at once. The pain never vanishes, even with revenge. You cannot succeed in your goals as an emotionless machine, because even if you win the battle, you'll lose the war, and die a terrible death after an unfulfilled life."

Kakashi gently steered Sasuke back towards the group, and felt a moment of hope when Sasuke did not resist, although the boy clenched his eyes shut again to hide the unshed tears. Kakashi ordered him to look again, to look directly at his team, and thank the kami, both Naruto and Sakura managed to pick up the spirit of this little moment, because they both smiled instead of looking worried, which Sasuke would probably interpret as pity. "Both of these people are willing to go the distance, to try and met you halfway, in spite of your disdain for them. Sakura may annoy you, but despite your constant rejection, she still seeks to help you when things go bad. And I know a bit about your rivalry with Naruto, but here he is, offering the food off of his plate to you. They are telling the truth, Sasuke. It is not pity to help a person you know and care for, it is friendship. I don't think they're going to expect you to become a cheerful person, but some acknowledgment of their care would not be unkind."

Sasuke looked down at the ground for a few moments, blinking furiously. Eventually he did manage to look up and force a smile, a weak one but one none the less, and with a degree of hesitancy that Kakashi found both amusing and familiar from his own youth, the boy said, "Thanks, I guess." He looked over at Naruto's bento, and his smile became a little more comfortable, and a little more taunting. "Even if you already ate everything good, dobe."

Naruto's jaw dropped, and he stood, ready to yell. Sakura stood as well, a single pointing finger aimed squarely at Naruto. But neither one of the pulled the food away from Sasuke, and in that moment, Kakashi made his decision. _I can work with this_.

Everyone froze when Kakashi started clapping.

When he had their attention, Kakashi stretched and said, "There is a saying I have adopted from a dear friend of mine. The saying is, those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash. The greatest power of any shinobi is their ability to work with other shinobi." He held out his hand, fingers spread. "Individually, there is always a weakness." He closed his hand into a tight fist. "Together, those weaknesses are negated, and all that is left is strength."

Kakashi watched his students as he spoke and saw the message hit home, especially for a certain angst-ridden Uchiha who wanted power, which was exactly what Kakashi was hoping for. Get them emotional and then present your argument when their logical tendencies are influenced by that emotion. _Sasuke will be pissed when I teach them that and he realizes what I did, but by then he'll be healthy enough to handle it, hopefully_.

"Traditionally," he continued, "I would use something known as the Bell Test to determine if you could work as a team. In it, you must take two bells from my person. It is always said that only the two with the bells would pass, in the hopes of driving a wedge between the team, and those who could not cooperate were failed and sent back to the academy." He raised a hand, forestalling the inevitable gasps and shouting. "I will not fail you. You all have shown a willingness to cooperate among yourselves in spite of your differences, even if it was harder for some than others." Kakashi smiled when Naruto gave Sasuke a gentle punch in the arm and a grin, and was satisfied when Sasuke managed to keep his already-strained smile in place and Sakura managed not to hit Naruto in turn. "Tomorrow, we will meet at Training Ground Three. You will be tasked with taking the bells from me. You cannot hope to stop a jonin such as myself on your own, or even as a team. I merely want to see what you can do, given an impossible task. Prepare yourselves." He waved cheerfully, then vanished.

Sasuke shook his head and started to walk away, far more tired than he wanted to admit, then stopped when Naruto snagged his arm. "Hold up, teammate," the orange boy said quickly. "We need to plan!"

Sasuke scoffed. "What is there to plan," he said. "You charge in and get a beatdown. Sakura runs away and gets a beatdown. I attack and snag the bells."

Naruto rolled his eyes at that comment, but it was Sakura who spoke up. "Sasuke-kun, he is a jonin, and a famously powerful one. We are all genin, brand new and with no real training. He could almost certainly club all three of us down without a thought. He must want something other than a straight fight and I think it has something to do with the whole teamwork thing."

Naruto nodded vigorously. "Yeah, yeah, what Sakura-chan said! We need a plan!"

Sasuke turned to leave, then stopped and turned back to them, Kakashi's words still fresh in his mind. I can at least give them a chance, I guess, he thought. I can do that much. He frowned, glaring at them, before letting out a sigh and crossing his arms. "Fine," he grumbled, his voice filled with distaste. "Let's hear this idea of yours..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Pom Rania, who has now gone over this chapter in an effort to finally stamp out the early installment weirdness.
> 
> Before you continue, you may want to see this, as it spells out a few of the fan fiction tendencies and habits I will and will not use. Some readers determine their preferred reading based on some of these, so some fair warning might be in order.
> 
> * I will not be using the **Callout Attack: Japanese Words I Have No Right to Claim I Know Technique** format, because I suspect a big part of the challenge of writing this, and doing so in an interesting manner, is requiring myself to describe the action instead of using memetic cues to make you supply the imagery in your head. That is not to say the gloating villain or hyperactive blond may not occasionally call it out as appropriate, nor that I won't use names as appropriate to describe attacks, it simply will not replace the description. While that system works great for a manga, where the reader may need the hint on what techniques are used during the more busy and crowded moments, or in an anime for dramatic effect, I think it falls short often times in writing because it becomes a shortcut to writing a fight scene. The only exception to this are things that are either iconic, in which case they will be described and defined in the story (such as the "henge" technique), and things that do not really work in the English language, whether due to cultural divide or terms that do not have a good match in my native tongue, in which case the same rule of description applies.
> 
> * In general, I will be using the Japanese naming system, last name first. I will favor Japanese names unless they sound like the kind of thing a racist would use in casual conversation. For example, I generally use "Maito Guy," as opposed to "Might Guy," because while it is drawn from English, it is reasonably distinct and believable. "Rokku Lee," meanwhile, sounds like a bad (and racist) joke, so I defer to the English version, "Rock Lee."
> 
> * I generally avoid "Fanon," but it does crop up in a few places. My personal rule is, if I can imagine it happening in real life under those exact circumstances, it can happen in my story. As far as I have been told, the only place that "fanon" has been added at this point is Chapter 3, which adopts two common and reasonably believable traits that appear in fanfiction a great deal, and which I have acknowledged before the chapter starts.
> 
> * I do not focus on pairings. I do not focus on pairings. I do not focus on pairings. I renounce that thrice. My story will not be focused on romance, and certainly will not go into what I shall call the "core mechanical aspects" of relationships. This is not that sort of story. Not to say there will never be an "awww" moment in my story, or that I'll never pair off the characters. Pairings will happen eventually, because to pretend otherwise would be to deny a part of human existence, but they will be realistic, and if you know anything about real world relationships, they are rarely as romantic as portrayed in entertainment media (and especially fanfiction). If you are pairing oriented, at this point you can assume canon pairings until and unless I find a good reason to do otherwise, and that's in my eyes, not yours, because "Sakura and Gaara make such a cute couple together" is not in itself a valid argument. If you simply must have a pairing to enjoy a story, there is the door, you may show yourself out. There are plenty of other opportunities for you, let me and my fellow non-shippers have this one thing, will you?


	2. The Value of Planning Ahead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite accepting Team 7 already, Kakashi decided to give the team the Bell Test to see what they can do. He gave them one night to prepare, and the team has done some planning.

Kakashi was not in the habit of showing up on time for anything. In truth, he was famous for being late to every event, no matter how important. This reputation had been carefully cultivated for many years, and as far as he knew, nobody ever expected him to arrive at an appointed time, never mind early. The reason for this habit was simple. If nobody expected him on time, then they would never look for him.

Nearly an hour before the test was supposed to start, he had arrived at Training Ground Three. There he waited, crouched in a carefully constructed blind in the trees, known of and maintained secretly by every jonin who took on students and brought them to the place. This training ground was simple, a large dirt clearing surrounded by trees, save for the side with a river on its border. Three wooden posts had been hammered into the ground at some point, and showed signs of regular and brutal target practice from its past use.

He watched silently as Sasuke, Sakura, and eventually Naruto all arrived exactly on time. He observed them for a further two hours, as the sun rose higher and higher, and was glad to note that each of them, Sasuke included, were a little more chatty, generally whispering quietly to one another, possibly planning. At one point, he distinctly thought he heard Naruto say, "That would never work," only for Sakura to shush him.

Eventually he decided they had waited enough to be good and angry, so he took off silently for the entrance of the training ground. Once he arrived there, he started taking a slow and leisurely walk towards his students. When he walked into view, he raised his hand in greeting. "You're late," they all shouted at him. Even Sasuke looked vexed at his late arrival.

Kakashi shrugged and pointed down the road. "You see, a black cat crossed my path and... and..." He shrugged again, and dropped the story, much to his amusement and their aggravation. "So, let's move on." He pulled out an alarm clock and set the alarm for noon, then attached a pair of silver bells to his belt. "You have until noon to claim the bells. Use any means you can." He looked up at them, and let a little iron into his voice. "Come at me with the will to kill me. Nothing less will work against someone of my caliber. Understood?"

The students nodded and settled into fighting stances.

"Right," he said, as he reached into his belt pouch and pulled... "it"... out.

All three of his students stared as he took his well-worn copy of Icha Icha Paradise and flipped it open in front of his face, and he was amused to see even Sasuke turned a little pink. After a few moment and a giggle, he looked back at them, and said, "Well? Begin."

"All right! Let's have a fair fight!"

Kakashi resisted the urge to roll his eye at Naruto as he stood there and brazenly challenged him to a one-on-one fight. He was surprised to see the other two back off slightly, as if they would take no part in it. "Very well, I'll teach you the first shinobi art, taijutsu, then."

Naruto charged at Kakashi, a little bundle of furious energy windmilling across the dirt. He came in high with a leaping punch, and Kakashi didn't even bother to look at the boy as he grabbed Naruto's fist and pivoted, throwing the boy over his shoulder to tumble in the dirt. Undeterred, Naruto rolled to his feet and came in low, aiming for Kakashi's knee. Kakashi raised his leg, again without looking, and let Naruto slide harmlessly by.

"You know, if taijutsu is not your particular skill, maybe you should stop trying to use it against me."

Naruto yelled and charged, this time keeping his feet on the ground. His stance and attacks were sloppy, ill disciplined, but they were also much harder to predict. Kakashi was willing to grant that, in a one-on-one fight, Naruto would probably manage the middle of the back from his Academy class. Not bad for a genin, but not outstanding. Kakashi noticed that the other two were positioning themselves on either side of him, and took several steps back to keep them within his vision as he parried Naruto's ineffective efforts.

Then Naruto was jumping away from him, and he laughed as he shouted, "Now!" Kakashi ducked slightly and glanced at the other two genin... who did nothing, simply standing in place and watching him. Then they raised their fingers and made the sign of release, vanishing into two puffs of smoke... two very large puffs of smoke that flowed around him and Naruto. _A smoke screen, using two clones to keep me in place. Meanwhile, the other two must be off planning something_. Kakashi found himself approving of their efforts. They obviously had a plan worked out, if they needed no communication, but in the drifting smoke, Kakashi could still see nothing threatening. Then he heard the faint whistle of wire swishing through the air at high speed, approaching from all sides. _Oh ho_ , he thought cheerfully as Naruto jumped over the rapidly approaching wire, _a trap. How quaint_.

Kakashi jumped hard, straight up, and pulled the forehead protector that covered his other eye up slightly. His sharingan eye activated instantly, taking in the details of his surroundings with perfect clarity, and he used it to observe the trap in motion below him. He saw several lines crossing through the space he had been standing in earlier, and as he watched, further lines could be seen starting to move through the loose dirt of the training ground. Layer after layer of wire started to pull in towards where they had been fighting, crossing the entire area like a flower slowly closing around him. He could see them all, hundreds of wires flowing into the pattern and starting to cloud the area below with the dirt that concealed them. Even as he reached the apex of his leap, he saw the first strands hit the three training posts, where they struck with enough force to dig into the wood, and more than enough force to bind Kakashi to them if they had caught him.

_Not bad _, he thought,_ but not good enough... oh_. That was when he noticed the single wire attached to the ground, almost exactly under him and pulled tight in a path that lead straight at him... and past him. A shadow flickered in the corner of his eye, and he smiled even as he turned his back to the ground below and raised his arms to prepare for the attack.

Sasuke, using the wire to guide him, had jumped from the edge of the trees, swinging in a perfect parabolic arc, and when he was above Kakashi he had pulled hard, dragging himself out of the arc and flying straight at his teacher, head first and leg cocked for a powerful kick.

Kakashi blocked the kick, feeling it hammer hard into his arms hard enough to risk harming him if it had landed. He barely felt the tug at his belt, but he felt it, and smiled even harder as he resisted the urge to stop the genin from snagging the bells. _I don't need to win here_ , he thought, _I need to lose to their combined efforts_. How else would you encourage teamwork? He gave Sasuke a push to make sure the boy landed on his feet instead of his head, then landed on his own feet with a thud.

Sasuke landed, gracefully for such a hard landing, then straightened and looked at Kakashi with a smirk. He held his hand out, fist closed, then opened it to let the bells dangle and chime on their strings. From the tree line, hundreds of Naruto's shadow clones set up a cheer, a few even bursting out of the river to do so, while the original Naruto and Sakura broke cover and ran to join Sasuke.

Kakashi stood, tucking his book away, and allowed himself to smile under his mask. "Well done, you three. The trap was well executed and nicely layered, Naruto, and a good use of your excessive manpower. And Sasuke, you focused on the mission instead of proving yourself against me, which is the right choice for a shinobi." He looked at their grinning faces, and decided to go for broke, in the hopes of reinforcing the lesson. "Sakura," he said, allowing his voice to harden just a little, "I am disappointed you did nothing to contribute."

Her face fell as he said that, and Naruto sputtered and raised a fist to argue, but it was Sasuke who spoke first, glaring at Kakashi even harder than normal."When you left yesterday, she was the one who suggested we plan ahead and show up hours early to set a trap. She's also the one who suggested the wire trap idea after we found out the dobe could make shadow clones, and figured out where you would jump when it went off. She even suggested the wire I used to correct my course, so I could jump before you did and adjust accordingly." He said this in the same dull voice, like delivering a lecture, but his tone did nothing to negate the look of pride on Naruto's face, or the shocked and grateful blush on Sakura's.

"Yeah!" shouted Naruto. "She even put together a script for my clones to follow, so I could sound convincing if someone was watching us!" He crossed his arms and grunted. "Not that you'd have noticed, being so late and all."

Sasuke tossed the bells behind him, not even turning to look, and Sakura caught them as they fell. "It is as much her victory as mine or the dobe's. We won together." Behind him, his teammates cheered, and for a brief moment, just a moment, he smiled.

_Excellent_ , thought Kakashi, and he allowed himself a little pride as managing to teach the most important lesson they would ever need.

"Mah, mah, don't get too enthused," he said, waving his hands, "I took it easy on you, you know." They all smirked, and he laughed a little. "Still, I am proud of you three. That was excellent teamwork, and it'll help all of you in your future goals." He looked at Sasuke and tilted his head slightly. "All of your goals," he repeated, and Sasuke gave a small nod. "Well, let's go get lunch, and we'll talk on how we'll be training in the future, shall we? My treat."

Naruto and Sakura's excited shouts rang loud in his ears, but not loud enough to block out Sasuke's quiet whisper.

"As long as it's not ration bars."

* * *

Kakashi smiled at his students as they settled into the barbeque place he had taken them to. Naruto had been clamoring for ramen, of course, but Kakashi was footing the bill, and he still wanted to encourage Sakura to eat properly as a shinobi. He was quite content to note that when it came time to order their portions, Sakura's was no smaller than Sasuke's. He was much less pleased at the size of Naruto's order, but he decided to take the loss gracefully.

"You did well," he said after their server left with their order, a strange grimace on her face. The three of them beamed at him as he talked, still flush with excitement from their victory. "In the future, we will have the following schedule. Each day, you will arrive at training ground three no later than eight in the morning. I will try to arrive on time, but should I not arrive, you are to spar or otherwise practice whatever you have been assigned. I trust you to do so, both to make yourself and your teammates into better shinobi. At eleven, we will break for an hour for lunch and personal needs. After that, we'll take a mission, which will be far less exciting than you are thinking, Naruto." The orange-clad boy made a face, but he settled down a little.

"After the mission, we will return to Training Ground Three to continue training as I see fit. We will do this every day." He nodded as the genin looked at him with surprise. "No," he said cheerfully, "I don't intend to work you every day of the week. Instead, I want you to tell me when you need a day off. When you're so sore you think you might hurt yourself, when you need to get something important done, even if you just want to go see a movie, tell me, and I'll give you three the day off."

Kakashi had expected approval from at least two of the genin, but instead, all three looked rather upset about that arrangement. He smiled at them under his mask, and said, "That said, I will also work you as long as you like. If you don't need it, don't take it, and you'll get that much stronger for it."

Naruto grinned. "I'm sure not going to take any days off more than I have to. I need to become strong to become the Hokage."

Sasuke nodded in grudging approval at that. "For once, we agree, dobe. I need as much power as I can get. I'll be right there with you."

Sakura looked at the two of them. "I... I'm not sure I can do as much as you two. I'm not nearly as physically fit as you. I may need to rest my body at times." She didn't mention the occasional family demand, wouldn't, couldn't, not in front of Sasuke. And Naruto, she added as an afterthought. But she looked at their faces, both filled with a mix of understanding and disappointment, and vowed to do better. She clenched her fists and gave them a smile. "But I won't take a single day more than I have to."

Naruto cheered loudly, but Sakura barely noticed. She barely noticed their food arriving. She barely noticed eating her meal. She barely noticed the fight between Kakashi and Naruto when the boy tried to order seconds. Because in that brief moment, when she vowed to be stronger for them, Sasuke had turned and smiled at her. It was a quick smile, and he had gone back to ignoring her after it, but it was the first time he ever reacted to her.

_IN YOUR FACE, INO-PIG!_ , Sakura's inner self shouted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Pom Rania, who has now gone over this chapter in an effort to finally stamp out the early installment weirdness *GLUG*
> 
> Sasuke turns around awfully quick in this story. I could draw out the "Sasuke is angsty" thing longer, but to be honest, in the first canon arc, Sasuke is not nearly the sociopath he becomes after the Exam arc. He is, to some limited degree, sociable, if not friendly. The difference here is that someone who is known to be powerful has directly stated that power comes with teamwork. If Sasuke is willing to betray everything for power, how hard is it to believe that he might have tried something less drastic, if his teacher encouraged that trait instead of letting the little sociopath-to-be mope his way through teamwork building exercises without actually do a single thing to build teamwork. For the purposes of this story, I am working with the premise that at this point in time, Sasuke was still a kid, albeit a mentally scarred one.


	3. A Lesson in Economics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi makes good on his promise/threat of helping Naruto shop. This chapter is partially an inspection of Economics in the Narutoverse and how I intend to present it, as well as establishing how Naruto is viewed by the rest of Konohagakure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I use two pieces of common fanon in this chapter. The explanation for why can be found below. The explanation on my choice of the value of ryo in Naruto is also at the end of the chapter.

Kakashi waited for his sensei's son to wake up.

The apartment manager had ignored the security for this floor, having also decided to leave this floor unused aside from his special, Hokage-mandated guest. Naruto, apparently, had taken the lack of security to heart, and had laid more than a few traps. The false paper wall that concealed his front door had been interesting. The sneezing powder balloon in the front door keyhole had been amusing. The kunai launched at groin level had been a genuine surprise. Nobody would expect it after such basic and childish defenses.

Nobody but Kakashi, anyhow. He caught the kunai before it could hit, reset the trap, and sat patiently in Naruto's living room as the sun came up, thumbing through his book with only the occasional giggle. He tucked the book away quickly when he heard Naruto started to stir, and silently made his way to the bedroom door. As an afterthought, he drew a kunai and posed with it menacingly. _Paranoia is a good trait for shinobi, after all_ , he thought to himself.

"Good morning," he said cheerfully as soon as the door opened.

* * *

Once Naruto managed to calm himself and start his morning cup of ramen, he asked Kakashi what he was doing in his home. "Ahh," came the reply, "today is Sunday, and as you recall, I will be shopping for food for you."

"What's that got to do with me," grumbled Naruto, already mourning his blessed ramen.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't want to admit it, but he rather hoped Naruto would be more responsible if shown what sort of foods to buy. Not like he was being paid for the shopping trip. "Well," he said, crinkling his eye with a huge smile, "If you don't want the free meal at Ichiraku's..."

"Yatta!" shouted Naruto, jumping from the chair by the table. "Let's go!" He dashed for his bedroom, sleep clothes flying as he scrambled to get dressed.

"After the rest of the shopping," called out Kakashi, unheard.

* * *

It only took a few minutes of walking for Kakashi to notice the chilly reactions he and Naruto were getting from the crowds as they passed. Most of them outright ignored the boy as they passed, but more than a few civilians were giving the blond a hefty dose of stinkeye when they thought he was not looking. Those shinobi who passed by generally did not even notice the boy, but then, they barely paid attention to Kakashi either. "Oy, Naruto," Kakashi said quietly, "do they always act like this?"

Naruto frowned in apparent confusion. "Who?" he asked.

Kakashi nodded to one of the approaching civilians, an older woman who was already glaring at Naruto before he came near. When the boy got almost within reach, the woman stepped far to the side, never once letting Naruto out of her sight. She stood there glaring as the boy passed. Once she finally turned away, Kakashi stepped closer and whispered, "Them. I can understand why folks would not pay you any attention in specific, but do you always get this many glares?"

Naruto pouted. "Yeah. So?"

Kakashi said nothing. He had been told by the Hokage that Naruto knew about the Kyuubi locked inside of him, and had granted permission for Kakashi to discuss it in secret of need be, but it had never really crossed Kakashi's mind that even if the secret remained unsaid, most of the adults either knew the secret or had friends who knew it and allowed their friends to color their reactions. Everyone pretended he did not exist, except for those who took an active dislike in him.

Then Kakashi stiffened, as his mind finally turned up an answer to something he'd been curious about. Naruto's cupboards and refrigerator had been nearly bare each time he had been in there. He knew Naruto had been receiving a modest pension from the Hokage ever since he got the apartment, amounting to 5,000 ryo a week, and while that was not an extravagant sum by any measure, it should be enough to feed the boy with something better than cup ramen. Something did not add up, and Kakashi was starting to suspect he knew what.

They happened to be passing by a small corner shop, one that sold general civilian needs, so he paused and instruct Naruto to wait outside while he got something. When he walked in, he nodded his head. The shop carried civilian luxuries. Consumer electronics, children's toys, rare spices... and a rack of candy and junk food in front of the counter. He picked up a small package of pocky, priced at 100 ryo, just a cheap snack. He chatted with the owner for a few moments, making some banal conversation about the weather, then stepped back outside and led Naruto around the corner. "Naruto, I want you to walk into that store and buy one of these for me." He showed the blond the package he had, then sent him on his way.

Five minutes later, Naruto was back, pocky in hand and a sour look on his face.

"How much did it cost, Naruto," Kakashi asked.

Naruto humphed and held out the package and receipt. Kakashi looked at the slip of paper and frowned. "Naruto, I trust you to answer me truthfully, but I have to ask to be certain. Is the amount on this receipt correct?" Naruto nodded, looking down at the ground.

Kakashi stared at the slip. It was for 10 ryo of pocky, and after taxes, tariffs, and one particularly large surcharge that said only "cost of living," it came out to nearly 1000 ryo. He could eat a full meal on that if he didn't do anything extravagant. A lot of things suddenly made terrible sense. He looked at Naruto, who seemed to be desperately trying not to cry. "It... took me this long because... well... now I can't even afford the cheap ramen."

"How much does the cheap ramen cost, Naruto?"

"I can get it at the one store for 200 ryo per cup."

200 ryo, three times a day, for seven days, came out to almost his entire budget. For cup ramen, worth very little more than this junk snack.

Kakashi nodded and gave Naruto enough money to cover the overpriced pocky. "Naruto, I want you to try something. I want you to use the henge jutsu to imitate me, then walk back in and buy another. If they ask, tell them it was good and you just wanted some more. And don't take out your money until they give you the total." Naruto nodded and performed the transformation, turning into a remarkably good imitation of Kakashi. After a quick inspection to ensure it was good enough to at least fool a civilian shopkeeper, Kakashi waved him on, and Naruto walked off to buy some more.

Within a minute he was back, walking slowly and staring at the receipt in his hands. Kakashi took it from him gently and looked at it.

100 ryo.

"Naruto, wait here a moment while I have a word with the owner."

* * *

"Ahh, Kakashi-sama, welcome back," said the shopkeeper. "Want some more already, ehh? Can't say I sell a lot to adult shinobi, but what do I know?"

Kakashi glanced at the shopkeeper as he approached and noted that the man looked... normal. No frown lines or furrowed brow. No snarling low tone of voice. No cold glare. Just depressingly normal, another dumpy and slightly pudgy civilian... who just happened to be old enough to have been present during the Kyuubi attack. Kakashi shook his head as he glanced around. "Just looking for something.. ahh." He picked up a small electric clock and brought it to the register. "Actually, there is a small problem. I think you may have mischarged me slightly on one of my purchases. I wonder if you could check my receipt?" The shopkeeper nodded quite cheerfully, and remained cheerful right until he saw the 100 ryo receipt.

"Oh," he said quietly, his face falling, "I am quite sure this was an accident, Kakashi-sama."

Kakashi nodded gracefully. "Of course, of course, these things happen."

The shopkeeper perked up.

"After all, to cheat someone is a terrible crime, no matter how young they are... or who they are."

The shopkeeper lost his smile.

"That crime, of cheating a shinobi in the service of Konohagakure, is punishable by litigation, forfeiture of property, jail time, or my personal favorite, death."

By now, the shopkeeper had gone pale.

"All the more so, if the shinobi in question had the personal favor of the Hokage for his service in keeping us safe from a monster."

The shopkeeper winced at that last part, and Kakashi knew he'd pegged the issue right on the nose. This one knew the secret.

"So undoubtedly, this sort of accident is unlikely to happen again if, say, that student of mine was to come in and purchase something."

The shopkeeper nodded frantically.

"Because if not," Kakashi said, still in a friendly tone that belied the look on his face, "I am sure Hokage-sama would be willing to reinstate me into ANBU just long enough for a sentence to be passed on such a case."

He casually laid his hand on the alarm clock and put a little elemental chakra into the device. The ear-splitting squeal as the speakers within buzzed, sizzled, and eventually melted, combined with the bright flash of the LCD overcharging and bursting into flames, seemed to make quite an impression on the shopkeeper. So did the melting plastic case as Kakashi increased the amount of chakra he was using for his little display of power. The shopkeeper apologized profusely in a shaking voice, gave him a full refund, and assured him no more mistakes would be made. Kakashi waved cheerfully as he walked out the door, leaving the flat, melted alarm clock where the drooping plastic had fused it to the counter.

Admittedly, the death part was a slight exaggeration, and punishment was highly unlikely to be to the level of ruining the man, but what he didn't know could keep him safe from mysterious fires and chidori holes in their doors at best and a furious, broken jinchuriki swearing vengeance on all who wronged him at worst. He knew he'd probably catch some flack from the Hokage for scaring a civilian with a death threat, but all the same, Kakashi smiled at a job well and truly done.

He kept smiling right until he turned the corner and saw the alley was now empty.

* * *

He found Naruto on top of the Hokage Monument some time later. The young man was just sitting there, arms around his legs, quietly sniffing. Kakashi walked over and had a seat next to him. He didn't speak, or put his arm around the boy, or otherwise comfort him. Any such comfort would be hollow at best. He just sat there and waited.

After a few minutes of silence, Naruto finally spoke. "Why?" he asked, his voice trembling.

Kakashi sighed. "Naruto, I know about the law and all things involved in it, as are you. Unfortunately, so do the rest of the adults in the village. It simply could not be covered up at the time. The law is there because the Hokage knew that this might happen, and desired that at least you might get a clean slate with those of your generation.

They do not know you well, and blame you for something you had no control over, and treat you as something you are not. But with time, they will come to see you for who you are, just as Iruka did. Give them time, and they will come around. Meanwhile, once word gets out about my reaction to all of this, at the least they will give you a fair price."

Naruto was silent for a while, and they sat together, listening to the wind shake the leaves and branches of the forest that surrounded their village. Finally, Naruto seemed to come to a decision, and looked at Kakashi. "Should I tell them?"

Kakashi shrugged, and took it as a question on his entire generation, not just his team. "I cannot promise they will accept it without question. Some, undoubtedly, will not. But for the most part, I think it is better for them to know now, rather than find out later, should they figure it out for themselves. However, only you may tell them. I have permission to discuss this with you as needed, but nobody has permission to break that law fully except for you. It's up to you if, and when, you should."

Naruto lapsed into silence again, and remained that way until Kakashi handed him a small pad of paper. "This is a general list of prices for common goods. If you get charged anything more than this, I want you to come to me. I also want you to keep receipts for everything you buy, in case I need to refund you. And if at any time you are worried about being cheated, I give you permission to leave the shop and secretly Henge into me to make a purchase. But not for any other reason, got it?"

Naruto managed to smile a little at the harmless accusation of what he probably would have planned to do when he felt better, and tucked the list into his belt pouch. "I got it, Kakashi-sensei. No using your appearance for pranks."

"Good." Kakashi stood and stretched, then offered a hand to his young student. "I believe I still owe you a trip to Ichiraku's..."

Naruto smiled and took his hand to get up, and for just a moment, all was right with the world.

Kakashi happened to notice the tail they had picked up on the way to the stand, and when they turned a convenient corner, he created a shadow clone and sent it on its way. Naruto looked at him oddly, but he waved it off as nothing important. When the clone dispelled, informing him of their stalker, Kakashi almost giggled. It was sort of cute, knowing the little Hyuga heiress was following Naruto around like a lost puppy. Then the pieces fell into place in his mind, and over a bowl of remarkably tasty ramen, to the sound of Naruto's frantic slurping and Teuchi and his daughter's laughter, Kakashi began to plan for the growth of his students.

All of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Pom Rania, who has now gone over this chapter in an effort to finally stamp out the early installment weirdness *GLUG*
> 
> It is here that we begin to depart meaningfully from canon. Kakashi in this story intends to train his students, and there is a very specific way for him to do so that should prove beneficial to all. I have a few chapters of training/background changes to cover, I think, before we hit the traditional Land of Waves arc.
> 
> **On the Value of Money:** The value of 1 Ryo in Naruto, as I have been told _many_ times, has been pegged at 10 Yen. The problem with that is that turns the payout of a D-rank mission (5,000 Ryo) into $402.00 USD. For those of you who are about to comment on how prices are not defined in Naruto, I point out that they are. When Kishimoto says 1 Ryo is worth 10 Yen, that sets and actual real world value to goods as well. 1 Ryo will buy the equivalent to 10 Yen in goods. 1 USD is worth 124 Yen in those same goods. It's the reason you can take 402 USD and convert it into Yen, than buy 402 USD worth of goods in Yen (I'm glossing over tariffs and so on, they are not relevant to this particular discussion).
> 
> This is ludicrous. $402 dollars for pulling weeds or capturing a cat, even if that's divided by the team? Why get promoted then? If that payout is for each person, do 20 years of D-ranks and retire, having never risked your life. Alternatively, if the payout is split, you almost certainly have jonin suffering huge financial downfalls, or genin getting paid very little, which only works if the local government subsidizes the lot of them, in which case, they would be better off just paying more.
> 
> Some have also pointed out that the money could be very high, and then reabsorbed through high prices on weapons, materials, and training for shinobi. This is a fallacy, because it ignores that someone, somewhere, is getting that money. In the end, someone gets rich under that system, and that richness would be what wrecks the economy, because whoever ends up with the money indirectly sets prices for the rest of them. Alternatively, the government charges abnormally high taxes on their own military... in which case it would be more efficient to just pay less and avoid the inflation problem.
> 
> If you are still reading, search for "basic economics naruto reddit," and read the first link. Faced between impossible nonsense from the creator and making my own system, I went with the one that works for the story. Just like Madara will NOT be summoning multiple meteorites from space with an attitude of casual ease, my genin are not making CEO money for house chores.
> 
> **On Fanon:** There are two parts of this story that are fanon (that is, not canon compliant). At no point does Naruto canon provide evidence of price gouging, nor does it directly state that he gets unpleasant stares from adults. I have allowed these two bits of fanon because canon gives the implication it may be true, or at least feasible.
> 
> In the one time Naruto interacts with someone who does not like him or is not required to interact with him (outside of the Shippuden back-filler episodes, which I have not seen yet), the point where he sits outside on graduation day, and adults keep sneaking glances at him, he gets some unpleasant looks. Between that and his trend for pranks, I am willing to accept that piece of fanon for this work.
> 
> As for the price gouging, Naruto in canon appears to eat little but cup ramen and ramen at Ichiraku's. Note I said cup ramen. I am aware that there is plenty of good, wholesome ramen in Japan. I suspect that most of that good ramen does not come in a microwaveable container. I feel that his diet started as necessity before it became his thing, because the alternative is that the Hokage likes him, but not enough to keep him properly fed, which is quite dissonant from how he is portrayed.


	4. There is No 3 in Team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Training proceeds between the teams of Kakashi and Kurenai. As it turns out, the most effective means of training people is to train them with partners who will actually help them grow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in posting. While I have a lot done, it takes a little editing to prepare this for AO3 from its original home.

Kakashi sat at the bar, half an eye on his book and half of it on the crowd, as he waited for his target.

When she walked in, every male and most of the females immediately noticed. In a world of blacks and dark tones, her penchant for white bandages and red trim made her stand out like a lightning bolt on the plains, and her unnaturally red eyes marked her as something unusual. Because of her rather unique look, and her fairly recent promotion to jonin, many of the members of the Konoha shinobi forces still viewed her with at least a little doubt.

And if anyone knew the value of underestimation, it was Kakashi. He knew the woman had a fine and devious mind behind the flashy look, perfect for a illusion master like Yuhi Kurenai. He waved her over to his table, and waved once at the server as well. Much like police officers, bikers, and miners, shinobi tended to have a certain taste for alcohol and for the places they drank it. Kakashi had yet to see a shinobi bar that did not have an aura of serious people doing serious business with serious drinks. No fruity umbrellas and cherries on sticks. No fancy menus with humorously named cocktails that cost more than a meal. Sake, and lots of it, or whiskey, and lots of it if you had a taste for it. The server arrived with a bottle of sake and two cups, bowed, and left quietly to let them get on with their business. Kakashi pulled the privacy curtain shut, hiding their faces from view, then nodded to his visitor.

"Kakashi-san," said Kurenai, as he poured a cup for Kurenai. "You mentioned in your note that you had a proposition for my students and myself, I believe." Kakashi nodded and set the bottle down. He felt slight amusement when she did not immediately pick it up, but remained focused entirely on him.  _Taking this serious,_  he thought.  _Good_.

"I'll start by asking a question, to see if you noticed the same thing I have. You know that Hyuga Hinata has a habit of watching Uzumaki Naruto when he trains sometimes?" Kurenai nodded, and her eyes narrowed. "Relax," he said, raising one hand in peace, "I see nothing wrong with this. In truth, I see an opportunity. Your squad is slated to be a tracking squad, yes?"

She nodded, and her expression eased into a more neutral look. "Yes. All three of them are natural trackers. Hyuga Hinata has the Byakugan, allowing her to see her immediate surroundings. Inuzuka Kiba has a strong sense of smell and hearing, allowing him to follow at a distance. And Aburame Shino can use his insects to mark targets and track them at nearly any range. It was decided they would become a go-to team for observation and tracking in the future."

Kakashi nodded. "And how are they doing?"

She huffed. "Poorly. Shino is well trained by his clan and is fairly well rounded, but he is remarkably quiet and not endearing himself to the team. Kiba is energetic, but he tends to lead with his face and it's going to get him killed some day if he faces a remotely competent foe. And Hinata..." She turned a glare at Kakashi.

"What?" he asked.

"You have a habit of speaking out of turn. I want you to swear, on the names on the memorial, that you won't say a word of this."

_That's not a good sign_. Kurenai was not terribly close to him, but she knew him, and knew of him, enough to know that such an oath would be a very serious one for Kakashi. He joked and played around plenty, but he did not do so when it came to his former teammates... or his sensei. Kakashi agreed after a moment's thought and mentally braced himself for what must be terrible news.

"Hinata should not be a shinobi. Not yet, and maybe not ever." Kurenai sat a little stiffer in her seat and glared at the table. "She is so terrified of doing poorly, she fails to even try. I know she has the technique, but I can't get her to so much as punch her teammates. And every time I try to encourage her inner strength, her self doubt immediately sets in and kills any gain she might have made. I've watched it happen, so clear on her face that it is unmistakable." She looked to one side, in the direction of the wall, and silently mouthed the words,  _Damned Clans_ , and Kakashi understood the meaning, and her roundabout way of saying it. Clans in Konohagakure had a great deal of political power, as well as certain rights to control and command their members. Kurenai could do very little to help Hinata if the girl simply returned each day to the place that tore her self esteem to shreds.

Kakashi grinned, and poured some sake in the second cup and slid it across the table.  _Sure, it's bad_ , he thought,  _but not nearly as bad as I feared. Really, no worse than my own students._  In the past week, Kakashi had begun training his students in tree climbing and physical fitness, and all of his own students had flaws he was having trouble working through.

Sasuke often became socially distant. He managed to become civil, and he even smiled at some points, but the moment Naruto or Sakura irritated him, he would return to his cold personality. He did not respect either of his teammates, and assumed he was stronger and deserved more attention and training from Kakashi.

Sakura was a fangirl, and it showed in her training. While she excelled at the tree climbing exercise, when it came time for the physical fitness, she refused to work any more than was required, and would quit whenever she began to work up a sweat. Based on how she kept glancing at Sasuke, Kakashi suspected she was worried about the boy seeing her in an unladylike condition. Kakashi had considered bringing in the rather independent Kurenai to supervise a session and break the girl out of that little habit, even before he thought of this proposition he had.

And Naruto... Naruto was a good kid, and a hard worker, but between chakra control problems caused by the fox sealed in his gut and his own impatient, somewhat brash personality, he was a trial to train. Kakashi knew about the Shadow Clone technique, and was familiar with how it could be used to speed training, but unless he had a good excuse to bring it up, he was worried that Sasuke would get angry about the special instructions, or worse, kill himself trying to use the same technique.

But Kakashi had figured out a way to bypass all of these problems... with a little mutual help.

"How would you like to solve all of your problems, and get a reputation for thinking outside the box at the same time?"

Kurenai looked at him for a moment, then smiled slightly and picked up the sake bottle to pour him a drink in return. "Let's hear this."

* * *

Team 7 and Team 8 met at Training Ground Three within minutes of finishing their D-ranks, and started discussing the day and their missions in a friendly manner. "I'm telling you," said Kiba, gesticulating wildly as he told the story, "that friggen cat must be a ninja under an animal henge or something. It ran up the wall when I cornered it!" On his head, his dog Akakmaru yapped in agreement. The boy wore a thick grey coat in spite of the warm afternoon sun, and his tousled and uncombed hair gave the impression of someone who never bothered to look in a mirror unless required to.

Hinata tapped her fingers together nervously before interrupting, quietly pointing out that the wall in question was only a few feet high, before ducking her head slightly as if she was trying to hide under her short-cut blue hair. When Kiba turned to disagree, Shino piped up and went into a convoluted discourse on the natural agility of cats, and in spite of the tall collar of his jacket, the sunglasses that concealed his eyes, and the dull monotone he always spoke with, he still gave an impression of slight mockery to all those who were listening, including Kiba, who started to shout.

Naruto could not help himself. He laughed himself hoarse. He had come to realize that in spite of his generally being an outcast at school, he had missed having people around, and even if everyone but Hinata scoffed when he shouted about becoming the Hokage, they were still friends. Maybe not deep friends, but friends.

Sakura, however, was less than amused, because neither of their teachers had returned from their errands, and she found that Sasuke seemed even more distant when there were more people around. He had been staring into the surrounding woods for the last five minutes, and while she had suspected at first that he was looking for Kakashi, she was beginning to wonder if he was doing it just to avoid taking part in the conversation. She opened her mouth to ask him for training advice away from the others, in the hopes he might relax a little with fewer people, when a cloud of smoke exploded into being next to the group to reveal both of their wayward sensei. Kurenai had a clipboard and a thick pile of paperwork, while Kakashi carried nothing but his habitual book.

"Sorry, sorry," he said with a wave, "I passed a man with no feet who was trying to sell his old shoes, and..."

"Lies," shouted Sakura, Naruto, and Kiba, all three pointing at him. Kurenai smirked, and Hinata managed a tiny laugh. Sasuke and Shino both shared a glance and ignored the whole thing.

"Right," said Kurenai, stepping forward. "Sorry, but we had to double check a few things with the Hokage before we officially tried this." She indicated everyone to gather around, and when Sasuke made no move to join them, glared at him until he complied. "As you may know," she began, "each genin is placed in a three-person squad, and they generally train and do missions together exclusively. This is to encourage teamwork, and help ensure each member is familiar with the other. For the most part, genin remain in their squads in the future, barring problems or emergencies."

She pointed at Kakashi with her clipboard, and he waved lazily without taking his eyes off of his book. "Kakashi and I have noticed a few ways in which having Teams 7 and 8 train together might help both become stronger, much faster than would otherwise be likely. We have gotten permission to test this idea from the Hokage.

"Each day, we will continue to train with our normal teams in the morning, then perform our D-ranks after lunch. Once finished, however, in the time that would usually be spent doing individual training, we will instead train together. You will each receive a sparring partner who will be well suited to your needs as a growing shinobi."

Kakashi snapped his book shut and stood from his slouched position to say his bit. "All of you, first and foremost, need taijutsu training, so it is here that we shall start. Shino, Sasuke, you are both proficient already, so you'll be paired up. Work together to practice what you know and try to work on your speed." The two boys looked at each other and nodded, and at least to a small degree, they were relieved to have such a serious and strong opponent.

"Sakura, Kiba." Both stood a little straighter. "Both of you hold each other's weaknesses as strengths. Kiba, you tend to attack head on, full strength, with little in the way of technique." Kiba's lip rose slightly in a snarl, but he did not disagree, and after Akamaru yapped his agreement, Kiba snorted to one side and nodded. "Sakura, you have the basis for great technique, but you never push yourself physically, and against someone strong like Kiba, you'll need every ounce of strength you have. I suspect Kiba will thrash you soundly at first, so don't get discouraged. Take advantage of it, and become stronger." Sakura nodded and while her face looked worried, her eyes sparked with a touch of inner fire. "Given enough time and strength, your superior technique will turn the tables on him." Kiba's eyes nearly glowed with quiet fury, and Kakashi smiled under his mask.  _That should get them sorted in good time._

Hinata tapped her fingers and kept glancing over at Naruto, her face starting to warm up.  _This means..._

Even her thoughts froze suddenly when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Yeah," shouted Naruto, throwing his other fist in the air. "That means it's you and me, Hinata-chan! Let's get physical!"

Hinata's face glowed red for a brief moment, before she let out a little sigh and slumped forward. "Ehh," said Naruto, confused. "Hi-na-ta? You ok?"

Everyone facepalmed. Even Shino. Even Sasuke. Even the ANBU in the trees watching over this experiment. And especially Kakashi.

"What?" Naruto asked, sheepishly.

* * *

Hinata woke to find herself laying on the ground with a orange jacket for a pillow and Kakashi watching over her. She stiffened and sat up. "Ka... Kakashi-sensei, S-sorry, I didn't..."

Kakashi interrupted with a wave of his hand. "It's okay, Hinata. This is why you and Naruto are paired up." He nodded at the training ground. In the distance, Sasuke and Shino seemed to be trading blows in an elaborate game of strikes, blocks, and counter-strikes, with almost no footwork involved. Kiba was charging at Sakura, and Hinata was shocked when the pink-haired girl managed to grab Kiba's wrist in passing and send him tumbling. Kurenai was watching them all fight, occasionally shouting out advice to Sakura or Kiba when she saw a glaring problem.

And Naruto was fighting... himself. He had a half dozen clones out, and they had apparently split into two teams for what looked like a spirited game of Dodge Shuriken. Team Naruto seemed to be winning, but then, Team Naruto was also losing, and none of them seemed to really know who was on which team, so it ultimately came down to a free-for-all, and the Narutos were chattering loudly and cheerfully as they fought.

"Naruto has one great advantage over the others, in that he has the Shadow Clone jutsu and the chakra reserves to make it almost effortless. The clones are solid enough to fight, but fall in a single blow. We chose him as your opponent for two reasons. First, you can go all out against a clone, and not hurt him in the least. Your Gentle Fist is intended to be painful and debilitating, making it dangerous to practice at full force. But here is a foe you can use it against without fear. Meanwhile, Naruto is unpredictable and quick to think, but he is not particularly fast or skilled, and using his clones, I hope to fix both of those problems by pitting him against someone that has both those traits."

"Understood," she said, quietly, doubtfully. Kakashi could see exactly what Kurenai had been talking about as his compliment was immediately smothered by doubt.  _No matter,_  he thought,  _we'll see what we can do about that._  Kakashi was not above manipulating someone for their own good, and Hinata had a big and obvious button he could push to help her resist that self doubt.

Kakashi leaned down and looked her in the face. "The other reason," he said, very quietly, "is Naruto is an inspiring person. He never quits, never backs down, and fights with all of his strength. You could do much worse, learning that sort of thing from him, and he could certainly use a dash of quiet contemplation, believe me."

She nodded, too nervous, and excited, and nervous, and worried, and nervous, for words, as Naruto's sensei exactly described all the traits she valued in Naruto.

"Also, you two would be cute together, if you can get the fainting under control."

* * *

Naruto looked over at Kakashi when the last of his clones popped. "She awake yet, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Give her a few more minutes, Naruto," he shouted back cheerfully from where she had once again passed out.

"Awwww, man," said Naruto, summoning another set of clones.

* * *

Eventually, Kakashi led the still red-tinted Hinata over to Naruto. He tossed the kid's jacket back to him, then said, "Naruto, make a few clones, please."

Naruto pulled on his jacket and summoned a half dozen shadow clones.

Kakashi wandered over to stand next to Naruto. "Ok, before we really begin, put this on." He handed Naruto a strip of cloth and pointed at his own eye. "Blindfold yourself." Naruto grumbled and complied.

"Remember," said Kakashi, "This won't hurt at all, so give it your best, Hinata."

"Yeah, Hinata, kick my ass," Naruto cheered, causing her to blush and Kakashi to shake his head and chuckle. Kakashi used hand signs to indicate one of the clones to attack quietly. There was a swish of cloth as the clone charged.  _I can do this, he wants me to hit his clone, he won't be hurt._ Hinata chanted those words in her head as the clone approached. Just as it came within reach, she stepped lightly to the side, almost casually sidestepping its wild punch, and tagged it hard with a juken strike to the chest.

It vanished with a poof. Naruto cheered for her, and her heart beat hard as she silently cheered for herself as well.  _I_ _can_   _do this,_  she thought, and the sheer energy and relief she felt at such a thought was almost overwhelming.

Kakashi nodded to her, then turned to Naruto. "How did she win, Naruto?"

"She punched me in the chest," said the blindfolded blond.

Kakashi waited for the penny to drop, and was not disappointed when it did. "Wait," shouted Naruto, ripping off the cloth around his eyes and staring at the two of them, "how did I see that?"

"What do you think?" asked Kakashi.

Naruto paused to consider, then raised his index finger. "Of course!" Kakashi nodded, waiting for him.

"I have the Byakugan!"

Kakashi and Hinata shared a look. The look was quiet and small and polite and clearly communicated the shared belief that, wonderful as a person Naruto was, he was also, at times, an complete and total idiot.

"I... I don't think that's what happened, Naruto-kun."

"Naruto, what happened was you saw the greatest strength of the Shadow Clone jutsu. Whatever your clone sees or does, you will see as well. Shadow clones make excellent spies, can help you study, and can even help you train in almost anything but physical conditioning, even new jutsu." At that point, Naruto was almost drooling at the prospect of mastering jutsu with hundreds of clones.  _There's the bait,_  thought Kakashi.  _And now the hook._ "Good thing you have it, because you'll need it to make up for how terrible your skills are."

Naruto's jaw dropped, and Kakashi continued talking in the hopes of forestalling the coming storm of complaints. "When your clone attacked Hinata, she didn't even have to try and stop you. In one move, she delivered what would have been a lethal hit. She trounced you with casual ease, and while it speaks well of her training, it speaks poorly of yours."

"I can't help that Hinata-chan's awesome," Naruto muttered to the side, indirectly earning the gratitude of both her and his teacher.

"In any case, to get you used to using this tool, your goal is to watch Hinata and your clones fight. Each time a clone goes down, you will immediately signal the next to attack. You, meanwhile, will sort their memories and your own outside observation and try to find a weak point in her technique to land a hit."

He started to walk away, then stopped and turned back to them. "Once you manage to land three hits in a row on Hinata, I'll teach you something new to practice. Don't make it too easy on him, Hinata, you could use the conditioning according to Kurenai, and I know Naruto respects hard work more than anything in the world." He turned away and walked towards the fight between Shino and Sasuke, waving over his back.  _Three for three,_  he thought, and with a small giggle, he pulled out a piece of paper and a pen.  _Given another ten years, maybe Jiraiya could use this for his next book..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, we deal with the aftermath of this new training and how the others change accordingly. All of them will gain something out of it, and will get their own focus-time, but this was set up for the training, and Naruto and Hinata's efforts needed some exposition ahead of time. As you can see, I am trying to invoke the slightly jokey, occasionally pratfall-prone sense of fun and adventure that the earlier series had. Sometimes it's hard to remember, but at one point, the show/manga was not nearly so dark as it got at times near the end.


	5. We're Gonna Need a Montage!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end results of the combined training are in, and we have the paperwork to prove it.

Kakashi sat in the same bar where barely a week ago he and Kurenai had met previously, and his newfound ally sat across from him once again. They were both leaning back, sake cups in hand and wordlessly staring at the wooden table, both fighting to keep a smile from their face. Such a small celebration, suitable for a successful C-rank mission or learning a new jutsu, and certainly not sufficient for the unmitigated success of their cross-training efforts.

Kakashi wanted to leap into the streets, crowing like a freshly minted chunin. He wanted to run up to Maito Guy, show him the notes they had made on their student's progress, then pants him in front of his "Youthful Team" and run giggling into the night. He wanted to smack Shimura Danzo in the face with another copy of those same notes and vanish before the exploding tag inside went off.

None of this would happen, naturally. Danzo would never learn, not until someone hit him with something a little harder than paperwork, and Kakashi thought he knew which little genin on his team might end up doing just that some day. Guy might take it as a challenge and try to get him back, which was a thing of nightmares. No, Kakashi and Kurenai had quietly compared notes, had a short discussion, and promptly returned to their usual bar to get a small drink in quiet celebration of the possibly that their students were going to crush all who faced them, and nobody would ever see it coming.

And if anyone knew the value of being underestimated, it was Kakashi. He was beginning to suspect that his students would have the benefit of the same once they were up for their exams. He pulled the papers back to his side of the table and flicked through them again, barely able to believe what he already knew. Their normal morning training was progressing about as he had expected, and all of their students had completed the task of climbing trees with chakra. But the group training...

* * *

Hinata was still timid, but she had finally started really fighting back on the third day, after she "accidentally" hit her sparring partner in the face with a palm strike while trying to deflect his attack. Kakashi slotted the mental quotation marks into that thought, as he was fairly certain Naruto had deliberately taken the blow to his face after specifically asking for permission to fight her, to test what he had picked up observing his clones. He had even had the audacity to wink at Kakashi just before he was hit.

He had fallen back, blood streaming from his face. As Hinata stuttered a broken apology, mortified, unable to look him in the eyes, he had laughed. She had stood there and stared in shock as he laughed, wiped the blood from his nose, then offered her a fist bump while congratulating her on her strike. She hesitantly returned the gesture, a tad awkward with the informal acknowledgment.

It had taken, by Kakashi's count, seven "accidental" injuries before she accepted his encouragement and started to actually fight with some degree of force. By the end of that day, she was physically exhausted, but was still smiling when they split for the night.

On the fourth day, it had only take one reminder from Naruto about her progress the other day for her to get back into the fight. On the fifth day, it didn't even take that. And on the sixth day, Kakashi had been deeply amused to see the shy, timid, frightened little kunoichi end the first spar with a sudden and immediate blow, without hesitation or warning. And he was even more amused when Naruto had cheered her on from where he had landed in the dirt.

Naruto, meanwhile, had learned a lot by observing his clones getting crushed, both with their memories and his own outside point of view. He still had no real taijutsu skill, but in the end, that only made him more terrifying in his fights. At one point, he had watched Hinata dispel three clones with a single sweep of her hand. When the next set of clones was sent in, they approached in the same way, and when she tried the same arm sweep, he had neatly trapped her arm before it could really get moving and had tapped her in the ribs before she could break free.

On the sixth day, after the first match, they had been permitted to fight with ninjutsu in light of Hinata's improvement. Naruto had demonstrated just how well he had been paying attention to the actual lesson Kakashi was trying to teach him by refusing to use any jutsu at all. He simply waded in, evading Hinata's strikes and following his own reflexes, born of nearly a month's worth of sparring practice crammed into a week from the use of his clones, until she was so tired he casually ducked her last strike and tapped her on the forehead. "I got you, Hinata," he said with a roguish grin, giving her a pat on the shoulder and a thumbs up.

Kakashi called it a win after she passed out with a sigh... a very happy sigh.

* * *

Sasuke and Shino had started off well enough. They fought with almost mechanical grace, two genius shinobi testing their own skills. Not a word was said as they fought, no compliments paid or taunts thrown, just a single silent nod each time a round ended definitively.

On the first break of the first day, Shino had silently sat down on the branch of the tree next to where Sasuke perched. They said nothing during the entire break, did not even look at each other.

By the third day, Kakashi had noted that Sasuke was seeking out Shino during breaks. They had yet to say a word directly to one another at that time, save for as required by their teachers or as needed in their spars. Finally, on the sixth day, Sasuke had sat down next to his quiet companion and challenged him to a spar with ninjutsu allowed. Shino agreed, asking only that excessive damage to his kikaichu colony be avoided.

What happened a long and skillful battle that lasted nearly an half hour, and Kakashi was proud of them both. Shino showed a great deal of skill in deception and evasion, and Sasuke, for all of his slightly antisocial tendencies during morning training, had been careful not to slaughter the bugs. Even when it made tactical sense. Even when it cost him the match when a bug clone finally knocked him down. He simply accepted the loss with a quiet nod and returned to the ready position.

* * *

But the real surprise had been Sakura. Kakashi felt almost ashamed how badly he had underestimated her, and he was willing to bet Kiba certainly did.

On the first day, they faced off one on one while Akamaru watched. Kiba was in much better shape and was much stronger than his sparring partner, and Sakura would have been hard-pressed under any circumstances. Sakura kept glancing at Sasuke the entire time, however, and once Kiba noticed it, he punished her for it. Every time she looked away, Kiba was there to bring her attention back to him with a fist or foot. This went on for half the day, until Sakura finally seemed to accept that Sasuke was paying her no mind in the least while she fought. He body was covered in bruises, she was having trouble keeping her arms up, and something in her just snapped when Kiba clubbed her down again. She stood and took her ready stance, then glanced at where Sasuke was fighting.

Kiba was already moving in, and was already fully committed to the easy hit when she screamed out a battle cry and stepped into it. His fist glanced off her arm, but his face caught her fist perfectly in return, and he tumbled nearly three feet back with the force of the blow. He knelt in the dust, hand covering his jaw, and looked up as Sakura, Angel of Death, sailed through the air at him, that silly pink dress suddenly not so silly as the woman inside of it brought down the fist of the gods themselves with the force of every muscle she could use...

Kakashi had caught her arm carefully before she did something permanent to her opponent, and he was proud of the twitch he felt as she fought down the reflex to take a swing at him. He told her she was done for the day, and to come back tomorrow with the same amount of passion but a little more self-control, all while discreetly pretended he did not see the wet spot that had grown under Kiba as he stared at the curled fist inches from his eyes.

On day two she came early to the morning training, caught Kakashi before the others arrived, and apologized. Not for smashing Kiba's face, but for not doing it sooner. She remained the same polite, slightly annoying girl during team training, but managed to only sneak glances as her crush when they were not busy. During actual training, she was focused.

When the time came for the afternoon training, she started systematically demolishing her opponent. Kiba had the strength, but she had the technique, and now she had the drive. Every wild charge was rebuffed with a throw or a painful counter-strike. Kiba spent almost as much time on the ground as standing. By the end of day two, she had spent the last five minutes of sparring tossing him around the clearing and letting him get up, only to slip in for another throw, deliberately practicing her ability to toss him and, at one point, counting out how many feet she threw him over the course of a minute. Kurenai had grinned when the girl counted to ten, and openly laughed when she reached twenty.

On day three, Akamaru was permitted to join in the fight, and the puppy made almost no difference save for picking up some bruises of his own. By the end of the day, Kiba was fuming, furious at having not landed a single meaningful blow the entire day. He was shouting angrily as a smirking Sakura when Kakashi finally took him aside and whispered in his ear. Kiba turned to stomp away, but when Kakashi called out and said, "That's exactly why you're going to lose tomorrow," he stopped, then turned and stomped over to Sakura.

Kurenai's jaw dropped when he kowtowed formally to the pink-haired girl, his forehead pressed firmly to the ground and arms spread wide as he begged her to teach him. After a moment Akamaru had trotted over and did his best to take the same pose, yapping furiously and wagging his tail. Sakura had laughed at the display and agreed.

She had trained the Inuzuka boy in the academy stances and punches... but those were worthless to him, she admitted, with his clan's taijutsu stance, a hunched and animalistic stance that encouraged full body blows. Instead of focusing on the basic strikes and throws, she focused on how they worked and how those same principles could be applied to his own techniques. The academy strikes were too awkward to use, but knowing the forces she used to toss him around until then, he was able to take advantage and adapt the same principles to his own efforts.

By day five, Kiba had absorbed much of Sakura's knowledge on academy taijutsu with the aid of Kurenai during their morning sessions, and he and Akamaru started to demolish her. Knowing how to use their bodies and apply leverage properly turned the two into powerful foes, and they spent most of the day tossing the pink girl around just as hard as she had days before. It was then that Sakura returned the favor, dropping into the same begging pose, and asked Kiba to teach her how to "go crazy like an Inuzuka."

On day six, Kiba arrived to group training with a scroll and showed it to Sakura. Kakashi managed a glance at it in passing, and saw it was filled with drawings of humans in various poses. They spent the day practicing the most basic of moves for the Inuzuka Four Legged stance. He apologized, explaining that the stance was all he was permitted to share as it was fairly easy to figure out through observation, but the rest of his clan's techniques were forbidden to outsiders. He also quietly assured her that his family was discussing permitting her to train formally with the clan, after being impressed with his quick improvement with her aid, and they wanted to see how she did with the basic form.

The image of Haruno Sakura on all fours, snarling at Kiba and Akamaru as they sailed away from her after a particularly good throw, was probably going to stay with Kakashi forever.

* * *

On day seven, they gave their teams a day off to rest and relax. They spent the day comparing notes and discussing their team's progress, eventually culminating in the report that they continued to pass back and forth at the bar between drinks. "I can't believe nobody ever thought to do this," Kakashi mumbled quietly as he set the papers down. He took up his cup and turned away to sip at it, concealing his face with his hand, which always got an amusing huff from Kurenai.

"I can't believe the Inuzuka were willing to teach Sakura anything from their clan," she replied, still staring at her cup.

Kakashi shrugged as he placed his cup down. "They are a lot less formal than many of the clans in Konoha, and Tsume seems to have a thing for strong women. I would not be surprised if she was watching them train at some point, and I am willing to bet money that she noticed Kiba's improvement after the first few days. Now if only we could get the Hyuga to be so open and helpful..."

Kurenai managed a snort at that little joke.

"So," he asked, resting his chin in his hands, "glad you accepted?"

She nodded and took a sip. "Shino found a good sparring partner who is respectful of his bugs and who has no objection to his quiet nature. Kiba has an appreciation for technique... and the potential strength in the other gender." She smiled sharply at that comment, as Kiba and the Inuzuka were hardly chauvinistic by nature, but his brash mannerisms often came across that way. That smile faded a little, but it did not vanish completely as Kurenai continued, "And Hinata is still very timid, but she's willing to hit at least one person now, and I think I can get Kiba and Shino to help me get her to open up more." She sighed and drained her cup, then sat back. "I think we can report this as an outstanding success to the Hokage."

Kakashi raised his cup to that.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like many, I have an issue with Sakura in canon. It's not that she is essentially Team 7's doormat. It's that she never changes, no matter how many little revelations she has. When I first watched the show, and she cut her hair, I was all hopeful for a strong female character. And we all know how that worked out.
> 
> Well, this time, she got her epiphany at a time and place where she could afford to let it sink in, and got a little support for it too. Frankly, she always had Inner Sakura to provide some power, and she in theory had the academy knowledge of taijutsu, but never the will or forced practice time to make it useful.
> 
> And don't worry, this is not 100% fix fic. There will be consequences to what has changed, but many of them hit later, in some cases much later.


	6. Finally! A Mission to the Wave!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short mission in Konoha to launch the traditional Wave mission, which I assure you, will not be the tired retelling we all love to hate.

"I don't see it yet," said Sasuke quietly into his radio.

"It'll be here," came the reply from Sakura. They were both stationed to either side of an alley way, carefully concealing themselves. They had been lying in wait for almost an hour so far, and both were growing impatient for the operation to begin.  _I can barely imagine how this must be for Naruto,_  thought Sakura as she shifted her limbs very slowly, one at a time, trying to stay limber despite being crouched under the eave of one of the buildings that made this alleyway. Her respect for Konoha's Loud Orange Joke had gone up a little during their training efforts with Team 8, and had only increased as they began to progress.  _He might be loud, obnoxious, and incapable of taking a hint, but when he really wants to, he can tough things out._

"Contact," said Sasuke, his voice little more than a whisper over the radio. Sakura shifted her eyes slightly and saw the target slowly making its way along the path. It seemed to move very slowly, confidant in its graceful steps, so certain it knew the area better than anyone. Then her foot crossed the small chalk mark on the pavement...

There was a sudden loud bang as Sasuke appeared, dropping a flash bomb from the small bandolier across his chest to his feet and sending out a wave of killing intent strong enough for Sakura to feel from the other end of the alley. She worried for a second that he had loaded the bomb with too much powder, as new as he was to the art, but he remained standing and unswayed by the loud blast. The target panicked, and with a scream, started running down the alleyway at her.

Panic was good. Panic meant quick choices, often wrong choices, something Kakashi had worked hard to imprint on his charges. Sakura timed the target's progress carefully, then leaped in front of it and gave out a howl.

The target was terrified at her appearance, and Sakura felt a jolt of pride. The last couple of months had been busy for her, but productive. Inuzuka Tsume had run her ragged teaching her the basis of her clan's trademark taijutsu stance, not just physically, but mentally.

_An animal_ , she had said,  _does not condition its hair._ She said this at the end of the first week, after Sakura had made the mistake of complaining about her appearance after a rough day of training in the rain.  _An animal does not prim, does not scrub, does not dye, does not paint. An animal is primal, its power coming from its natural state._  Tsume had smiled at her, and given her a nudge in the ribs.  _So does its beauty. Stop trying so hard and just be yourself._

Sakura had taken this to heart. Her long hair, no longer cleaned fervently, had become a spiked, ragged, vibrant pink mane that spread across her shoulders, barely held back by the hitai-ate she wore as a headband. When the hem of her dress had become shredded after she stepped on it a few too many times in practice, she had ripped it off and sewn the new hem herself to be level with her shorts. The work was slightly ragged and terribly uneven, but it worked, and Sakura was proud of her decision to keep it.

And as she crouched on all fours snarling at the target, she could see Sasuke with a faint smile on his face. It might have been for a plan well executed, but Sakura decided it might as well be for her, and true or not, that would be enough for now.

Panicked, the target screamed again and, true to Kiba's words months ago, started running up the wall to escape. "Now, Naruto!" shouted Sakura, not even bothering with the radio any more. With a small puff of smoke, Naruto dispelled his Henge transformation... all of them.

The entire alleyway became slightly hazy, as the walls to either side transformed back into their original form, revealing hundreds of shadow clones, each one standing on the shoulders of the one below it, lining the entire alley. With an excited shout, the erstwhile walls curved inward, hundreds of hands snatching and grabbing at the cat as it tried to flee, screaming the entire time.

_Serves it right_ , thought Kakashi, watching from the rooftop.  _Damned thing will only do it again tomorrow_.  _I wonder why it's always running away?_

* * *

_Oh, that's why._

Kakashi stared at the poor cat as Lady Shijimi, the daimyo's wife, cuddled the poor creature half to death while proclaiming her love for the suffering beast without a trace of irony. He could feel the disgust radiating off of his team, especially Sakura, who was wincing with every screech and hiss as if she knew what it was saying.

_Come to think of it_ , he considered with a small smile,  _she just might at this point._

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, was reading from a list of missions, each more dull and uninspiring than the last, when Naruto finally snapped. Kakashi had no idea where the game show buzzing noise was coming from as the boy crossed his arms and shouted, but he heard the quiet snerk of repressed laughter coming from the other members of the team... and more than a few from the kid's audience as well. Even the Hokage seemed amused, chuckling even as Iruka lectured Naruto on his impropriety.

Hiruzen looked at Kakashi and raised an eyebrow slightly, and received a small nod in return. The old man was slightly uncertain about giving Kakashi's team a higher ranked mission, but it was ultimately the jonin's call, and Hiruzen had heard more than a few interesting stories about Team Seven, most of them good.

"We have one possible C-rank mission I may permit you to take," he said slowly, causing all of the genin to perk up slightly. "An escort for a certain person."

At this, Naruto became ecstatic, and Hiruzen smirked as the boy shouted his excitement... until the drunkard walked in.  _If nothing else_ , the Hokage thought with a smile as he watched the following antics,  _at least the job can be amusing at times_.

"If I may, Hokage-sama," said Kakashi, after the bridge builder and his orange-toned genin argued for a while. Hiruzen gave him a nod, and the jonin turned to his charge. "Tazuna-san, my team is strong enough to protect you from bandits, and even if they were not, I am. However, this will also be a training opportunity for them, and I have a few last minute instructions to give them. Would you find it acceptable to leave at dawn tomorrow?"

Tazuna grunted in agreement and took another deep, slovenly chug from the bottle in his hand.

"Thank you," Kakashi said with a smile. He turned to his students. "I will speak to each of you later tonight for some last minute preparations. Meanwhile, return home and pack for a few weeks of time in the field."

"Yes, sir," said his team.

* * *

"Sakura," said Kakashi from her window that night. He was quite proud when her fist passed perilously close to his face as she tried to punch him instead of screaming uselessly, and more so when she curled her fingers inward to try to snatch his mask. He noted that, despite the later hour, she was dressed and ready to go, and he considered the possibility she had been waited for him to approach her this way.

"Sorry, Kakashi-sensei," she said, with a grin that gave an entirely different message.

"Mahh, mahh, no problem," he said sheepishly. "I wanted you to know something, before we go." He crouched on her window sill and stared at her. "I am proud of what you are becoming," he said without preamble. She blushed, in quite a pretty manner, and he had an amusing thought as to how much trouble Mr Haruno was going to be in once his daughter got a little older. "You have taken upon yourself the task of being a true shinobi, and at this rate, you might just become the strongest kunoichi of your generation." Her blush only deepened.

"I have no training for you, except for a very specific warning." She stiffened and took a more formal stance, as befitting a soldier taking orders. "We may be fighting on this mission. We may also be required to kill our foes during it." She nodded once, and swallowed nervously, her blush fading to paleness. "There is no shame in reluctance to kill... but there is shame in letting another die for that reason. If the time comes, be strong, strike quickly, and sort out your emotions after we all come home. OK?"

Sakura's eyes were a little dimmer as he finished his speech, but when he was done, a stillness settled over her features, and as he watched, a little steel crept into her spine and made her eyes glitter in a decidedly unladylike fashion. "Understood, sensei," she said quietly, with a nod. He nodded back, and jumped back out into the night.

_The trouble just got twice as bad for Mr Haruno,_  he thought with an internal giggle as he raced towards his next student.  _She might have fewer admirers, but they'll all be shinobi like her._

* * *

He found Naruto at Ichiraku's, naturally. He listened on the roof for a few minutes as Naruto chatted on about anything that came to mind while the owner and his daughter prepared his food, then dropped down and slipped into a stool. Naruto's spit take, once he noticed Kakashi's presence, was enough to make everyone else laugh.

"Hey, Naruto, I got you something." Kakashi reached behind his back, and offered the genin a package. The boy took it and hurriedly opened it, then pulled out the dark green cloak Kakashi had picked up a few weeks ago. It had a slight pattern to it in shades of darker green, but even in the good light at the ramen stand, they were hard to make out.

"I don't get it," said Naruto suspiciously.

"Naruto, sometimes it's good to stand out, especially when you're Konoha's Number One Unpredictable Ninja." Naruto grinned at the title, rightfully earned through years of pranks.

"You are durable and getting quite strong for your age, Naruto. There will be times that you will want to draw attention, and draw attacks, because in the end, you can take a beating that your teammates can't, thanks to your... special training."

Naruto nodded carefully. He had yet to tell anyone else about the beast sealed within him, not even Teuchi and Ayame, and Kakashi seemed to respect his choice.

"There are other times, however," Kakashi continued with a smile, "where an orange jumpsuit is a bad idea. Like on stealth missions. Or assassination missions. Or most missions." Naruto opened his mouth to argue, but Kakashi waved him down. "I don't ask you to stop with the orange, Naruto, but you might want to have the option of hiding yourself."

Naruto sighed, and mumbled, "Yeah, yeah, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi reached out and ruffled the boy's hair, then laughed lightly when the blond glared at him. His glare died, however, when Teuchi stepped up with a bowl and said, loudly, "A wise piece of advice, Naruto! And in gratitude for it, I am sure your sensei will be glad to buy you a bowl!"

While Naruto dug in, Teuchi gave Kakashi a small wink, and received one back. If anything was likely to reinforce a lesson on Naruto, it was a bowl of his favorite ramen, and they both had discussed this a few weeks ago. Kakashi had a standing account now at Ichiraku's, and found the money to be well spent to reinforce some of his lessons.

Kakashi bid them goodnight, and with a last reminder of the early day tomorrow, he left to find his last student.

* * *

Kakashi did not even bother trying to sneak up on Sasuke, simply landing a few feet away and approaching the boy, who was standing on a dock looking out into a lake near his family property. He was pleased to see Sasuke had some new additions to his bandolier and made a mental note to ask the boy about the markings on the various canisters and pouches. Many shinobi used a personal code to obfuscate the chemicals and poisons they used, and Kakashi approved, but sometimes he worried that Sasuke's teammates might need that information when the boy was unavailable.

"What," asked Sasuke as soon as Kakashi approached, blunt but at least not particularly unfriendly.

"Nothing," said Kakashi as he approached. "I only wanted to-"

Whatever he wanted remained unsaid as the kunai sank deep into his forehead. Sasuke turned, guard already rising, and saw... him. That man. That murderer. He stood out on the lake, black robes billowing, another short blade in hand, his eyes glowing red.

Sasuke didn't even think. He just attacked, charging into the lake and screaming in his fury. The man threw his kunai with a casual flick, scoring a line across Sasuke's cheek, but even that did not deter Sasuke in his charge. He lashed out with a flying kick, but his foe caught it, casually taking the blow to his palm without moving an inch, his hands crushingly painful as they grasped Sasuke's ankle. Sasuke palmed an explosive in his right hand, ready to throw it, but again he was countered, his foe grabbing his hand and holding it tight until the fuse burned down and blew Sasuke's hand off. Sasuke screamed, and did not stop screaming until he landed with a thump on the edge of the lake.

"You're still too weak," said his brother, without passion, without hate, as he walked to the shoreline. "You're still far too weak." He pulled out another kunai and pulled back his arm to throw it. "Join your family, then," he said as he flicked it at Sasuke's left eye.

_I can't die like this!_

The kunai sailed at him, as time slowed to a near stop, the world distorting slightly as Sasuke focused hard on his oncoming death. He began to turn away, certain he could not evade the blow... but the kunai slowed even further, and he found himself moving faster, much faster than he thought possible.

The blade hit the ground next to his face. Sasuke turned to look at it, but the blade looked wrong. The edges were rough, slightly nicked and pitted, something his brother would never allow to happen to his tools. When he turned to his brother, the man's face felt wrong. The curves of his eyes, the shape of his cheekbones, even the curve of his jaw was just slightly off, giving the impression of another person wearing an elaborate Itachi mask.

And out in the lake, two figures, visible only by the faintest of outlines against the shimmering water, were standing patiently.

Sasuke stood and brushed some dirt off his cloths with his completely undamaged hands, then walked out onto the water. He passed through the false brother like the illusion it was and stopped before the figures.

"Kakashi," he growled.

The figures shimmered, revealing Kakashi and Kurenai. She looked slightly perturbed, but Kakashi, his sensei, looked extremely pleased with himself. Kakashi nodded to Kurenai, who gave Sasuke an apologetic glance before leaving the area. Sasuke watched her until she was out of sight, then rounded on his teacher, crossed his arms, and waited for an explanation.

"I have taught you every strength I could," said Kakashi quietly. "Do you remember me teaching you the strength of the toolmaker?"

Sasuke nodded. They had sparred one evening, and Kakashi had casually dropped a flash-bang in front of him, blinding him for half the night. He had been angry, until Kakashi asked if, faced with his brother, such a thing would disable his most powerful technique, however briefly. Sasuke had acknowledged the point, and was trained how to make some of the simpler but exotic tools of the shinobi world.

"Do you remember me teaching you the strength of the strategist?"

Sasuke nodded, and colored just slightly. Kakashi had conned him into playing a game of Go with Nara Shikamaru, and after an embarrassingly short game, had explained that Shikamaru had pulled it off with nothing but his facility for planning ahead. Training to think was difficult, and Sasuke knew he had a lot more training to go, but at times, just knowing he needed to plan ahead helped. In hindsight, he had been little better then the dobe, dashing into fights under nothing more than the assumption that he was strong, and any foe he faced must be weak.

"Do you remember me teaching you the strength of the team?"

Sasuke grunted, and flushed much deeper at  _that_ memory. After the first week of training, Kakashi had asked him if he could take on his team, two to one, and he had said yes without a thought. When the match began, he had sprung at Sakura with a flying kick, intending to put her down immediately to focus on Naruto.

She had grabbed his ankle, and rather than trying to hurt him directly, had simply rotated him slightly as he passed by. He was still trying to figure out why she did so little when Naruto's fist had hit him in the back of the head.

He had awakened at the hospital. Sakura was apologetic, but instead of being a weak, gushing mess, she had simply apologized politely, if repeatedly. After the dobe also apologized for hitting him "a little too hard," they had shared a high five and mocked him mercilessly for underestimating them. Kakashi had stayed on after they left, and pointed out that their strength was also his strength, if he stopped worrying about how he got his revenge and simply put all of his effort into making sure it happened at all.  _Why listen to your brother's advice on how to kill him,_  said Kakashi, his voice laden with scorn,  _when he was nothing but a traitor?_

It had taken several days, and a lot of effort, but Sasuke did his best to get along with his team. He had offered to take them to lunch one afternoon, a little wary of their reaction, and they had both frozen in place in shock. Eventually he convinced the two of them to just go along with it, and they spent a relatively pleasant afternoon together.

And once the initial shock wore off and the two of them calmed down, he found himself admitting they were at least more tolerable now. Naruto had been less stupidly aggressive when Sasuke stopped mocking him at every turn, and Sakura was less annoyingly clingy once he stopped ignoring her.

It had taken him nearly a week before he managed to stop them from stomping all over him during their spars, and that victory only lasted a day before the two of them had come up with something new and crushed him again. Their fights had become a cycle of innovation versus talent, and with each cycle, they became harder and harder to beat.

Kakashi nodded once, to acknowledge Sasuke's embarrassment, and raises his hitai-ate, revealing his sharingan. "I had Kurenai come and perform this genjutsu on you for a reason. Tomorrow, for the first time, we may face real and dangerous foes, and while I expect little more than bandits and other riffraff, that does not mean the danger will not be real.

"The sharingan does not manifest until the first time the owner believes themselves in great danger. This is generally when the owner is fighting for their lives, which is a terrible place to suddenly gain a perception-warping doujutsu. Despite her reservations, Kurenai agreed with my reasoning and was willing to help. You may want to consider thanking her later."

Sasuke grunted, but nodded in agreement.

"Well, congratulations," said Kakashi with a smile. "I know your clan would often celebrate when a member gained the clan's famed power. I also know you have no desire for me to throw you a party over it. But if nothing else, you now have a vital tool against your brother, and that at least I am sure you can appreciate." He gave the genin a gentle pat on the shoulder and started to walk away.

"Kakashi," he heard Sasuke say quietly. He stopped walking and waited.

"Thanks."

Kakashi nodded once, and with a short wave, vanished, leaving Sasuke alone to think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am watching the anime as I write all this, and one thing I noticed is the little psycho is a lot less psycho as a kid than I remember. He's actually almost normal, something I feel is often forgotten in fanfiction.
> 
> I also feel slightly bad about glossing over much of the theoretically available dialogue in this, but how close do you really need me to examine what the Hokage says this time during the "give us a real mission" bit, over what was said in canon? It's almost identical, so why go word for word, other than to pad the story (great for published work, maybe, but for this? I'll spare you).


	7. The Demon Brothers Attack!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our first real ninja foes! Not counting other genin, jonin tests, schoolyard fights, spars... Okay, let's amend this to... our first genuinely lethal ninja foes... not counting Mizuki. Bugger it. Demon Brothers. BAM!

Kakashi noticed the puddle immediately.

It was hard not to. The thing was laying directly in their path, so close they would almost step on it in passing. From the sudden, if muffled, intake of breath, he guessed that Sakura had noticed it as well.  _Nice to know she's not so engrossed with the conversation that she lost her senses._  Kakashi gave a slight cough, just a quick clearing of the throat, and was proud that none of the others showed any reaction other than a slight hitch in their breath.

Still, he had to admit it took a big brass pair to be so blatant about such a trap. Any fresh genin squad and even a few higher ranked shinobi Kakashi could think of might not have noticed, while someone with more experience might notice and write off the hidden ninja as incompetent. It was an excellent tactic, designed to either ambush the weak, or make the strong underestimate their foes until it was too late.

If anyone appreciated the dangers of underestimating others, it was Kakashi.

When two shinobi clad in rebreathers and wearing a pair of matched iron gauntlets flowed up out of the false puddle, Kakashi didn't even bother to turn towards them. He gave a second cough, quietly, and got an answering grunt from Sasuke, a grumble from Naruto, and a stirring rendition of a popular song in whistle form from Sakura.

 _Right,_  he thought as he heard the metallic clink that signified the attack,  _let's see how they do._

A simple, classic kawarimi was enough to escape the trap, with their foes none the wiser as they mercilessly destroyed the log he swapped himself for.  _Oh, good, chumps,_  he thought as he watched them from the forest. Kakashi could not even remember the last time the body replacement technique went unnoticed by his opponents, which bode poorly for them.

* * *

"One down," the two ninja proclaimed as they destroyed the jonin, his shredded body tumbling to the ground behind them. They smirked to themselves under their rebreathers and leaped at the shortest one, chains cutting the air. He was only just beginning to turn towards them as they reached out to rend his body.

"Two," they said in unison.

"Sure," the little orange-covered kid said quietly, a small smile on his face.

There was a flash of pink and a frightful shout from one side of the Demon Brothers as Sakura took to the fight. She launched herself at Gozu, arms crossed. He raised his unchained arm in defense, detaching the chain between himself and his kin as he did so, only to have her collide with him, not merely with her fist, but with her entire body weight. He stumbled back a couple steps, his momentum only checked by his brother, who reached out with his unbladed hand to catch his sibling.

A second flash, this one blue, passed in front of the two ninja. The second child was just slow enough that the men could see the smirk on his face as he passed. Their eyes followed his form long enough to see him dashing further away from them. They sagged slightly, their guard dropping just a little in reaction to the missed attack, and their eyes tracked back towards the pink girl, who had spun away in that time, covering her ears with her hands, obviously terrified. A smirk slowly started to form on their faces under their masks at the cowering girl, and the smile remained until their eyes stopped moving, focused dead ahead, on the small cylinder that was still rising slightly from where Sasuke had tossed it in passing.

The flash of light as the small explosive lit off was terrible in itself, no meager single flash but a series of flashes that crossed the colors of the rainbow twice over at an intensity strong enough to be blinding through their eyelids. As bad as the lights were, however, the sound was that much worse. It was a gruesome noise, loud bangs intermixed with piercing whistles and thudding bass rumbles that pushed at their chests. The Demon Brothers flinched away, eyes fluttering as they tried to blink away the afterimages, unable to hear the slight scuff as the orange boy finally completed his turn, now that the flashbang had done its job.

Meizu didn't hear or see a thing as Naruto firmly kicked as hard as he could between the man's legs, but he certainly felt it. Kakashi had started a grueling physical regimen after the first week of sparring with Team 8, and he pushed nobody harder than Naruto, knowing full well that his excessive healing ability permitted him to be pushed to the limit, time and time again. But where he had been working on Sakura's somewhat shoddy reflexes and Sasuke's speed, Naruto was getting nothing but strength training. Between this and Naruto's much improved food intake, the young man was already beginning to become a physical powerhouse. Meizu rose a full three inches from the ground, which would seem unimpressive were the blow not coming from someone half his own height. He landed on his knees, then dropped to the ground, twitching.

While writing his report on the mission later, Kakashi would swear he'd heard the musical ding of a boxing bell at that very moment, but he never found out where the sound came from, so it never made it into his official report.

Gozu felt the thump of his brother hitting the ground and blindly jumped away. He sailed off towards the trees, intent on simply fleeing faster than these genin could possibly follow. Unfortunately for him, he landed less than a foot from Kakashi's hiding space, and in an almost friendly fashion, the white-haired jonin nailed him with a lariat and latched on, holding the unconscious man up by his neck.

"Good work, team," he said, walking out of the treeline to dump the two captives into a pile. "You fought well, especially against a pair of chunin like these two." He looked at Naruto, and frowned. "I expected you to react a little faster, though, Naruto."

Naruto smirked and blew a raspberry at the pair of nukenin on the ground. "Sakura is faster than I am, and so is Sasuke. I knew they'd be there soon enough." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly and glanced at Sasuke. "I've seen enough of Sasuke-teme's surprises to know by the time I turned around, I'd just have to turn around again." He perked up a little and pumped his fist in the air. "But we got them, didn't we! Dattebayo!"

Sasuke grunted at the cheering orange menace, but he managed a small smile. "So," he said quietly, shrugging his shoulders, "I blinded them with science, Sakura attacked them with all her might, and you... you played ro-sham-bo with them?" He looked away, feigning distaste. "Classy," he mumbled.

This set Naruto off, and he began shouting at his rival and friend over the insult. Kakashi tied up the two fallen shinobi and stepped away for a moment to discreetly summon one of his dogs to run a message to Konoha. Tazuna tried to bring his heartbeat under control with more than a fair bit of his remaining sake.

And Sakura stood in the midst of it all, unmoved, trying not to stare at Sasuke as the blush continued to glow on her cheeks, giving away the fact that her one true love had just given her the biggest compliment she thought she could ever hear from him.

* * *

It took a little while, but as soon as Kakashi pointed out that dishonesty voided their contract and he could, in theory, simply leave Tazuna alone with the slowly recovering shinobi he had tied to a tree nearby, the man spilled it. He explained all he knew, about Gato and his crushing grip on the economy of the Land of Waves, the threats to his family and his workers, and his desperation to finish this one work and free his land.

"I suspect this is a bit beyond you," Kakashi said, addressing his team. "In general, genin are not exposed to battles with other shinobi without significantly more experience. And we are certainly not getting paid enough for this." He turned to the shivering bridge builder who was standing beside him. "However... I do not like the idea of simply leaving you to die, even if you were grossly inaccurate in the details of the mission. But it is not just my life that might be at stake." He turned to his team, and raised his one visible eyebrow.

Sasuke was first to state his opinion on the matter. "We may as well keep going. You're here to help us, we're well rested, and as prepared as we're going to be. We'll have to face other shinobi eventually, we may as well do so now, while circumstances are with us."

Kakashi nodded, and turned to Sakura, who gave him an easy shrug and ruffled her hair with her hands, helping it air out. "This is dangerous, Kakashi-sensei, but I think we can handle it. We managed to take these two out, and they were well above our level too. With any luck, our other foes might just underestimate us as well."

Kakashi nodded, then flashed forward, a kunai appearing in his hands. In mere moments, he was in front of the pink-haired girl, blade posed to kill... and he almost jumped as one of Sasuke's little surprises passed inches from his exposed eye, cap still firmly in place and fuse unlit. Sakura had not flinched in the least and was staring at him with an almost feral glee, as if this was planned, and Kakashi seriously wondered if his cute little genin squad really  _had_  planned it at some point.

 _I guess all those teamwork exercises did help,_  Kakashi thought cheerfully as he stepped back and nodded.  _And at least Sasuke cared enough to intervene._

"We might die, all of us, for taking this path. No amount of power can save you from a foe who gets in a lucky shot. But if you all accept this course, knowing that you'll have none to blame but yourself, then I'll agree to it." He tucked the kunai away and nodded to Tazuna.

"Wait," shouted Naruto, stomping his feet in the dirt, "What about me? Aren't you gonna ask me my opinion!"

Kakashi turned back to Naruto. "Are you saying you don't want to keep going?"

Naruto shook his head with a frown.

"So, you want to keep going?"

Naruto crossed his arms, made as stern and serious of a face he could, and nodded.

"Then why are you standing here complaining?"

Sasuke grunted and reached out to give his team mate a light slap in the back of the head, and to the sound of Naruto's sputtering fury, he started walking down the road. Naruto rushed to catch up, but drew to a stop when Kakashi reached out and snagged his collar. "Sakura," said Kakashi, nodding down the road, "go with Sasuke and Tazuna. Naruto and I need to have a discussion."

She gave a small nod, and jogged to catch up. Tazuna followed after a quick glance at the remaining two ninja.

"Naruto," said Kakashi quietly when the others were several meters away, "let's talk about your contribution to the team."

Naruto swallowed heavily.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, in my original concept for this chapter, Naruto was far more involved, but I noticed something in my efforts to put it down, and it was this: At this point, Naruto is still almost 100% his canon self. Training a person to fight is much easier than training them to think, and not expecting meaningful danger to him or his team, Kakashi had no reason to directly order any kind of special tactics with Naruto's shadow clones. Rest assured, he will be coming to his own soon, but for now, it made little sense for him to be running down the path of Uber!Naruto with a giggle and a Kage Bunshin, so instead, I did what seemed most natural to me, if he was not frozen in shock like in canon.
> 
> Namely, nut shot. Canon Naruto strikes me as a bit of a bar-room brawler, low on technique and high on effectiveness. With that sort of open target, how could he resist having an enemy ninja become known to have been taken down with a kick to the nuts by the future Hokage?


	8. Assassin in the Mists!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Original Flavor Edgelord arrives! Watch as his impossible swordsmanship is demonstrated over... and over... and over again.

When they stepped onto the dock, Team 7 let out a collective sigh, each for their own reasons.

Sasuke sighed in relief. The crossing had been done slowly, with the speed of but a single oar to remain silent. For all of his posturing, Kakashi had been fairly tense, as had Tazuna and the boat owner, and Sasuke thought he had a good grasp of why. Out in the water, only Kakashi would be able to fight in any meaningful manner, and an ambush would be easy to arrange in such a thick mist.

Sakura sighed in mild distaste as she looked around the small town they had landed in. It looked like an acceptable place to live, and she was proud of herself in that she found no objection to the dirt that seemed to be ground into the surface of every object she could see. Dirt was a sign of work, and no real industrial or farming village could look as clean as Konoha on even their best day. But the cracks in the walls, the ancient peeling paint, the rough wood used for patch work, all of these spoke of long neglect. Even the power lines and poles looked to be held together with rough patchwork and shoddy repairs, and in an area of wooden housing, that could make this place a death trap.

Naruto sighed in discomfort. The trip had been long, and Kakashi had given him a direct and serious order to remain silent and largely immobile the entire trip. He had handed Naruto a small pile of leaves and had instructed him to practice the Leaf Concentration technique, holding a leaf to his forehead with nothing but his chakra. Unlike the academy, however, this time he had to do it with a literal twist, rotating the leave slowly and consistently in a circle, like a clock. The first dozen leaves had spiraled into the water before Naruto managed to get them to remain on his forehead, and he had spent the remainder of the trip silently trying to even out the speed, staring over the front of the boat as they traveled. Unused to such inactivity, his back was now stiff, and he stretched several times trying to work out all the kinks.

Kakashi nodded to the boat captain when the man decided to take them no further, then looked at Tazuna. "Well, now," he said, his voice high and cheerful, "Maybe we should find a place to have a nice meal before we set off, ehh, Tazuna?" Tazuna blushed and turned away at the foreign shinobi's faux pas. Asking for a restaurant in a place as poor as this was a ghastly thing to do, but in turning away at that moment, the bridge builder missed the subtle hand signal Kakashi flashed to his team.

Naruto did not miss the signal. He nodded quietly, and then loudly proclaimed his need to find a restroom as soon as possible, clutching as his gut and hopping around in distress, causing Sasuke and Sakura to lean away from him in disgust. Tazuna sighed and started leading the group in the direction of the nearest restroom he could remember in this town, and never saw the look that Kakashi and Naruto shared.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, quite relieved, the five of them left the public restroom to begin their journey to Tazuna's home.

Twenty minutes later, exactly as relieved, the five of them left the public restroom.

Two hours later, the last group of the five of them left the public restroom.

* * *

"Kakashi-sensei! You're the best," shouted Naruto as they walked down the road, arms behind his head and a great smirk on his face. Sakura agreed loudly, and even Sasuke managed a grunt of agreement at that. "Using all those shadow clones as decoys was genius," the blond continued to shout, chuckling loudly. Kakashi turned to him and smiled.

"You see how powerful misdirection is now, Naruto?"

Naruto cheered enthusiastically, causing his team mates and Tazuna to lean away from him.

"And do you know what makes misdirection even more powerful?" asked Kakashi, turning his attention away from forest to address his charges. Naruto leaned forward, eyes glittering at the prospect of more wisdom from his incredible sensei.

Kakashi shot his cute little genin a big smile, and said cheerfully, "Not shouting out your tactics for everyone to hear."

"I agree," came the deep voice from the surrounding trees, even as the great sword came whistling through the air. Sakura managed to throw herself into Tazuna, knocking him out of the way, while everyone else jumped out of line to avoid the spinning sword. Kakashi tracked the sword with his eye until it hit a nearby tree with a resounding crack, sticking far enough into the tree to support the ninja who landed on it.

The man was thickly muscled, a fact evident due to his bare chest and back. He wore only some pants and a set of leg and arm warmers in a blotchy black and white camouflage pattern. He turned from where he stood, back to the Konoha team and they saw that his face was masked with white bandages, showing only his eyes and spiked brown hair, blowing softly in the breeze.

"Your genin are quite astute to have noticed and dodged my attack, Sharingan Kakashi, but they talk far too much for ninja. Not that it mattered, making that many clones, the last set would have to be the real ones, which my intel made sure to watch for. Rest assured, I will let them flee like the little false ninja they are after you're dead... if they turn over the bridge builder to me."

Kakashi drew a pair of kunai and took a ready stance. "It seems you have me at an advantage. Who are you, exactly?"

"Why do you ask?" said the mysterious ninja.

"To know what to etch on your tombstone," said Kakashi with a smile.

The bare-chested shinobi laughed at this, a deep, strong, and surprisingly warm chuckle for such a stern figure. "Very well," he said from his perch, "I will give you the name of your killer. I am Momochi Zabuza, formerly of Kirigakure. Are you sure you want to fight? There is no shame in yielding to a threat such as myself."

Kakashi spared a glance at his genin, and found them shivering but in control and ready to fight. Even Tazuna seemed willing to go against this foe. He grunted once, then looked up at the tree and smiled. "I think not," he said.

Zabuza nodded in acknowledgment, even as the mist began to rise and fill the road and forest, growing impossibly thick. "Then I will show you why I am called the Demon of the Hidden Mist, Kakashi." He made a hand sign, and the mist rose and concealed his form, turning the entire roadway white.

"Flee, you three," said Kakashi, stepping into the mist. "Keep the client alive."

Sasuke and Sakura immediately grabbed Tazuna between them and started to run, but Naruto simply stared at Kakashi's fading form. "Like hell I'll run," he shouted at the mists, drawing his own kunai. "I'm no coward! I'll fight you here and now!"

"As you wish," Zabuza said quietly behind the blond as he brought his blade across and through the boy's body, not even bothering to watch the child die.

* * *

Naruto blinked in the sunlight and looked up at Kakashi, walking calmly ahead of him. "Sensei," he said, sorting out his memories, "One of the teams has been hit. Ummm... someone named Zabuza... Mocha? Moochee?"

_Momochi Zabuza_ , thought Kakashi.  _Jonin ranked, and a rank earned through blood, not mission ranks and friendly competitions. We're in for a fight, eventually._  "Which team," he asked, giving the surrounding area a little more scrutiny in case the foe was close.

"The last one, sensei."

Kakashi held out his hand, and Tazuna grunted before slapping his last bottle of sake into the jonin's hand. "Never make a bet you can't bear to lose," said Kakashi, tossing the bottle to smash against a tree, splashing the alcohol around the area. "Tell me," he asked his students, "Why did he hit the last group?"

Sakura spoke up when the other two said nothing. Naruto had a studious but laughable look on his face, while Sasuke wore his traditional look of bored indifference, although Sakura thought they were both thinking carefully. "For almost any ninja, the only way to make that many teams would be to use standard clones, which are simplistic and incapable of further jutsu. The last team to leave the restroom would almost have to be the real versions, and if an observer happened to notice them leaving and saw them interacting with the world physically, they would likely assume that the last ones were the real ones."

Kakashi nodded, and looked at Naruto expectantly. He was still frowning, and Kakashi imagined he could hear the ungreased wheels of the blond's mind squeaking under the unusual effort he was making. Finally, something seemed to snap free, and his eyes widened.

"But because my shadow clones can perform jutsu, and interact with the world physically, it's harder to notice that they are fake. You made us leave first, because you know anyone watching would assume the first group to leave would be fakes of some sort."

"Very good, Naruto, Sakura. It's good to see you both have a grasp of what we did and why." Sakura smiled, and Naruto grinned hard at such a small praise. Kakashi sent a glance to Sasuke, and saw the glint in the boy's eyes as he thought about the situation.

Sasuke was thinking hard, but not on the same thing as everyone else.  _This is impossible,_  he thought over and over, a litany of disbelief that did nothing to change the fact that he had heard the plan Kakashi had presented to them in the public bathroom they had ducked into.  _Naruto made shadow clones to henge into copies of us, and they got orders to make more copies, but Kakashi never said..._

"Dobe," said Sasuke quietly. When Naruto looked at him, still grinning, Sasuke asked that he really needed to know. "How many teams did you send out?"

Naruto thought for a moment, and his grin got bigger. "Six teams. I wanted to do more, but Kakashi-sensei insisted they be able to fight and run for at least a day, so I had to be careful not to... what?"

Sasuke and Sakura were staring at him.

_Six teams,_  Sakura thought, her estimation of her occasionally stupid teammate raising as she did the math.  _Thirty clones, capable of lasting a full day or more and fighting._  The team had leaned on Naruto's shadow clone technique plenty of times in the past, using them for manual labor and spars, but banished clones returned their chakra to their owner, so she'd assumed they were only capable of low key physical labor. But if all of those clones could operate that long and fight with jutsu, then...

_He's on a whole different level_ , Sasuke was thinking at the same time. But where Sakura was shocked and pleasantly surprised, Sasuke was now grinding his teeth.  _With that level of power, I could easily have my vengeance._

His thoughts were interrupted when Kakashi laid a hand on his shoulder gently, and the man leaned in to whisper quietly in his ear. "Don't forget who tends to win in your spars. Power is only as useful as the person who controls it, and chakra is not the only source of power." Kakashi gave the young man a pat on the shoulder and stood back to observe.

Sasuke nodded and forced his jaw to relax.  _Their power is my power,_  he repeated to himself, the words Kakashi had instilled into him after his disastrous first loss against the two of them. He realized that his angry thoughts had not been hidden as well as he hoped, and both of his teammates were looking at him with pity.  _No, not pity, concern, according to Kakashi._

He blew out a single deep breath, then held out his arm, fist closed, at Naruto. "Your use of the clones is getting better, Dead Last. Don't think I'll go easy on you, just because you're useful. I'll run you into the ground."

Naruto glared at the black-haired Uchiha for a moment, before he laughed and bumped fists with him. "You're on, teme."

"Well," Kakashi said, taking the lead again, "we should get to Tazuna's in an hour. With any luck, Zabuza will be busy until then."

* * *

Hours later, after they had reached Tazuna's home and settled for a meal, Naruto stiffened. "Kakashi-sensei," he said quietly.

Kakashi looked at him.

"Zabuza just finished off the clone of you on the last team."

"Ahh," said Kakashi, lifting his chopsticks, amused to notice how hard Sakura was trying to see how he ate through his mask. "He hunted down the other teams, then?"

Naruto frowned in confusion. "Ehhh? No, baka-sensei, he finished the clone of you on the last team." He looked over at his teammates in time to see Sakura's chopsticks hit the table from where they fell from her hands. Sasuke's mouth was open, food inches from it, and his eyes were narrowing.

"... What?"

Even Kakashi had to work to keep his voice even. "How did you manage that, exactly?"

Naruto shrugged. "Well, once the first clone disguised as you got trapped in a position where he couldn't escape, he kinda made more clones before taking the hit..."

* * *

"Where are they?" bellowed Zabuza, leaping through the trees, eyes searching.

The fight with Kakashi had been brutal. The man had been insane, abandoning any concept of defense for pure, all out attack and forcing Zabuza into a defensive position. He had shown no inclination to use jutsu in the fight, even after Zabuza had cut down his student. But Zabuza did not earn his title by being a pushover, and he had eventually regained the initiative. Even as he brought the blade around for a blow he knew Kakashi could not dodge, his foe had made a two-handed sign... and four copies of him formed, even as the original dissipated in a puff of chakra smoke.

That's when Zabuza realized that he'd never so much as heard the first genin's body hit the ground.

The fight had become hectic as he cut down clone after clone, more appearing with every stroke. Every gambit he made, every trick and trap and technique he used to try and draw out the real Kakashi, caught only more clones. He took several blows, including a few unpleasantly deep but nonlethal cuts in his legs when one clone used the death of four of his kind to make a suicide lunge with a pair of kunai. Zabuza had tagged the clone with the pommel of his blade, but not before the kunai had sunk into his legs. The fight had only ended when the final clone raised his hands in the now familiar seal and vanished with a look of surprise.

When Zabuza let the mist fade and saw that not a single body was in sight, he had started screaming, and he had not stopped, not in the twenty minutes he had been following the trail of the rest of the team. His screams echoed through the woods, and got louder with every flex of his legs and every drop of his blood that fell from them. They hurt terribly, but in his fury, he found the strength to ignore the pain. As he approached the fleeing team, leaping from tree to tree, he saw the pink-haired brat was carrying the bridge builder across her back, giving the children a little more speed.

_But not enough_ , he thought with a great deal of satisfaction.  _Kakashi obviously left with another group, assuming his clone could hold me off long enough to return._  Why else would they bother fleeing with the builder, slowing them down as they tried to escape?  _I bet they hoped I would find and focus on Kakashi once I figured out his clone trick, so they left the dead weight with the weaker party._

Zabuza hurled his blade as soon as they came in range, and the two genin split up. The black-haired boy in blue turned to face him, while the girl continued to flee.  _Another clone,_  Zabuza figured, grinning beneath his mask. He charged forward, ignoring the clone's weak attack to deliver a simple but powerful punch to dispel it.

The pink-haired girl had stopped running and set the bridge builder down to better fight her foe. Unlike the others, she took up a wide stance, arms raised like a prizefighter.  _Might be a real one,_  thought Zabuza, slowing his charge to consider his next move. Then he saw a flash of fast-moving color to his right, and laughed.

The first senbon needle hit Tazuna in the temple, a perfect strike... and he dispelled.

_No._

The pink girl turned to the new attacker, stance shifting awkwardly, like she had never used the style before.

_No._

Her eyes widened slightly as Haku flew at her, arm outstretched and senbon already in flight. Her mouth opened slightly as if to say something, then the needle hit, in the middle of her forehead... and she dispelled as well.

_NO!_

Zabuza screamed in animalistic fury and started to lash out at his surroundings.

* * *

Naruto looked up from his nearly empty plate. "The last one on the first team just popped."

"How..." Sakura was whispering, and looking at Naruto.  _Impossible,_  was all she could think. "How many times did the clones replicate?" Naruto looked confused.  _How do I ask him how many iterations he had,_  she thought for a moment.  _He is like a child, not enough vocab... oh, right._

"Pretend they were having children," she said quickly, before he got too confused, "and each time they split, it was the next generation for that clone. How many generations did the clone have, at most? If the last clone was the last child, what was its relation to the original?"

Naruto paused and started counting in his head. Original had split into six, call them first generation, then G1-2 had split into four to take that second blow...

It took Naruto almost thirty seconds to sort out the many memories he had received, determining who was next to die based on their position on the battlefield when they appeared.

"The very last one was his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather. But when he tried to make another set, he ran out of chakra." He looked at the wide eyed stares the table was giving him, and sunk deeper into his seat. "I think," he mumbled.

Sakura's mind buzzed.  _Ten iterations, after the original twenty. Each iteration split the clone's chakra at least by half if not more..._

Impossible.

Sakura stood and walked out of the house without a word.

* * *

Kakashi found Sakura out at the end of the dock. He crept up on her at first, observing her, and saw she was not crying or shaking. Just thinking, very carefully. He felt a little warm pride creep into his chest with the realization that her reaction was at least partially because of him. He allowed himself to move towards her without his customary stealth, eventually sitting on the dock next to her. She was still motionless, her eyes tracking back and forth, following what was going on inside her head. He waited quietly, enjoying the peaceful night.

"What is he, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi nodded to himself.  _Not an unexpected conversation, really._ "You mean who, Sakura."

Sakura turned and stared at him, eyes blazing. "No, Kakashi, I mean what." The loss of the honorific was not missed by Kakashi, nor was her angry tone. "He has more chakra then any ninja I know of. The Hokage. The Sannin. Every academy teacher, every ninja I know. That's not separate, Kakashi, that's combined." She looked down at the water. " _What_  is he."

He shrugged. "He is Naruto, the Great Orange Prank, Number One Surprising Shinobi of Konoha." He looked down at her in the watery reflection, and saw the first hint of fear in her eyes. "Sakura," he said quietly, drawing her attention. She looked up, barely formed tears in her eyes, tears she was fighting with all of her might to keep in.  _Good girl,_ he thought approvingly.

"I know from where Naruto gets his power. He is human, very much so, but he does have one advantage, one that gives him a great deal of raw power. Although technically incorrect, consider it a sort of bloodline limit."

"A Kekkei Genkai," she asked, using the formal title for the genetic powers that many shinobi bloodlines had. Her voice was slightly awed, but it still wavering. Kakashi nodded in reply. "What is it?" she asked.

"I cannot say."

Sakura whirled in place, bending into her Four Legged stance and snarling at her teacher. Kakashi raised his hands, waving them downwards in a placating manner. "Ahh, no need to get like that, Sakura. I really cannot say. It is a capital crime to tell you what it is."

She stood slowly from her fighting stance. "A capital crime?"

"Yes." Kakashi stood and dusted some imaginary dirt from his pants. "The only one that can tell you is Naruto, and frankly, he is already terrified that you and Sasuke will think he's a monster. I can't stop you from asking," he said, turning to face some bushes near the start of the dock, "but I can suggest that you not do so."

Sasuke stepped out from the bushes, hands still in pockets. "You're saying that the dobe is too scared to tell us why he's so strong," said Sasuke. It was not phrased as a question. Kakashi nodded in reply, and Sasuke scoffed. "Idiot," he said, turning back towards the house and walking away.

Sakura started jogging to catch up to Sasuke, who was moving at a slow walk, the same walk he used every time he was with a teammate, one designed to convey disdain at a slow pace while inadvertently encouraging others to catch up.  _The same one he uses when he wants a teammate with him,_  Sakura translated in her head,  _but he's too obstinate to admit it._

"Where are you going?" called Kakashi.

"To ask, of course," she called back to her teacher.

* * *

Sakura knocked politely at the door to the boy's bedroom and waited for a reply. When none came, she knocked again, then opened the door slightly. "Naruto," she said quietly, "Can we talk?"

She heard him grumble, but it wasn't a no, so she slipped inside.

Naruto was sitting with his back to the wall, staring out the window opposite from him. The moon outside was bright, and its light shining through the window screen covered his face like a fence made of shadows.  _Or a cage,_  she thought as she sat down in front of him.

They sat in silence for nearly a minute, and in that time, Naruto never looked away from the window. Sakura could see him quite clearly, and several times his jaw moved slightly, as if he wanted to speak.

"You can tell us," she said.

"You say that now," he mumbled, still refusing to look at her, "but once I tell you, you'll be like the rest. You'll nod and smile when you have to, but when nobody else looks, you'll whisper, and point, and mock. Back in the academy, you already were like that to me. Just like the rest." He didn't sound angry or spiteful to Sakura. He just seemed very… tired.

There was a few moments of silence. Sakura wanted to deny what he had said about her, but she knew damned well she couldn't. Before they really became a team, she had looked down on the loudmouth blond, just as most of the other students had. She decided to ignore his point for now, although she knew they'd have to talk about it eventually.

"It's that bad?" she asked.

He nodded, and his eyes finally met hers.

_Dear kami,_  she thought, staring into his eyes.  _He really is terrified._ She broke eye contact, looking at the floor, giving herself time to think. He was annoying, and loud, and brash, and uncouth. But he was also friendly, and loyal, and outgoing. He was, when all was said and done, a friend, possibly a very good friend, and in his eyes she had seen his fear, and she half suspected it was fear of losing what little he had. If enough people treated him as he had said...

"I need to ask something else then," she said quietly. "I don't want to pry, Naruto. I really don't. We're friends, even if I do get a little... physical when I get angry at you." She was suddenly feeling very guilty about that last part, but in the light of the moon, he saw him smile, just a little, and with the way he and Sasuke fought, she figured he'd be okay with the occasional thump. She gave him a small smile back, then schooled her face back into a calm, neutral state. "But... whatever is going on with you, I need to know... is it safe? Is it controlled?"

She felt crushed when he frowned at her, but she sat up straighter and waited for his answer. Kekkei Genkai were not always safe for the user, or for those around them, and some families that carried them were famed for their mental instability or social problems. She didn't want to ask, but in the same vein, she had to know if she needed to be on the lookout, in case he became a danger.

Finally, Naruto nodded. "My... problem was dangerous, at one point. But it should not be a danger any more, according to Kakashi." He scratched the back of his head. "I don't know what all might be involved, actually. I've been told very little about my... condition. Right now, aside from details, all it's really done is made me have a lot of chakra, and help heal me from injuries."

"That's why you were able to spar so much with Hinata, isn't it?"

Naruto nodded, and managed a small grin.

_Damn,_  Sakura thought, remembering a couple conversations she'd had with the Hyuga a few weeks before,  _I owe her an apology now. She really_ was  _hitting him._

"Okay," she said, standing up to leave. "You know, if you ever really want to talk about it..."

Naruto yawned and scooted over to his mattress. "Maybe later. Thanks, Sakura-chan."

Sakura smiled as she opened the door.  _Honorific and all. Guess he is all right._

"Sure," she said, shutting the door quietly, "any time." She then walked down the stairs, where she had convinced Sasuke to wait for her, having explained that ' _Hey, Dobe, why are you so powerful_ ' was insufficient for the importance of the conversation.

* * *

Sasuke opened the door some time later. He stepped into the room and laid down on his mattress without so much as a grunt. After a few moments, he tilted his head slightly. "Hey, Dobe," he said, in a whisper.

"Yeah?"

"Whatever it is, you're still a dobe."

Naruto grinned under the cover of darkness. "Thanks, Teme."

* * *

"I made a mistake, Haku."

"How so?" asked Haku, preparing to tend to his master's legs. The cuts had been painful but harmless early on. Then Zabuza had started to rage and demolish a small section of the forest, the cuts had ripped deeper, and Haku had been forced to stun Zabuza with a few senbon until he could stop the bleeding. Now he had no choice but to stitch up the injuries, and he was heating the thick needle he was intending to use for the job over a lit candle to sterilize it. He watched his master and savior through the flame of the candle, staring at the man's face, unwrapped for once.

"I underestimated Sharingan Kakashi." Zabuza spat, quite literally, and glared at the wall as Haku prepared the thread and needle, "I will not do this again." He picked up a small stick covered in teeth marks from the healer's kit, then laid back and set the stick in his mouth.

With nothing else to be said, Haku leaned over and began to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was uncertain about using shadow clones to make shadow clones, but nothing I found in my searching indicated that a clone could not clone, barring limits to chakra. The number of clone iterations is probably much more than canon this early (if a clone of a clone takes half the clone's chakra, instead of them all sharing a chakra pool with the original owner, which is how I assume such a thing would work). There is in fact a reason for it, although it will not come up for some time yet.
> 
> I have had it argued that regardless of how good a trainer Kakashi was, there was no way that Naruto could put up any challenge to Zabuza. I can understand that, but I also point out that, like canon, "winning" was not the goal, distraction was. I also point out that in my story, like the real world, ranking does not mean instant victory. As for his injuries, I have updated the text to hopefully give a better indication of my intended purpose, which was that the worst of it was self-inflicted.


End file.
